


Pivotal Tides

by RoboZephyr



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Mostly posting for friends and those interested in my ocs lmao, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-04-30 06:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14490792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoboZephyr/pseuds/RoboZephyr
Summary: Legends tell of a powerful, benevolent force known as the Mother Pearl. For many centuries, the Mother Pearl looked after her home realm of Terrania under the care of the Seaside Clan. One day a group of clan renegades stole the Mother Pearl away causing the Mother Pearl to retaliate. She banished the renegades and the entire Seaside Clan into a parallel realm called Aquium before splitting herself into seven parts and scattering herself across Terrania.Centuries later, a conflict arose causing the power of the seven parts of the Mother Pearl to seep into the parallel world of Aquium. As chaos emerges from the shifting balance in the Mother Pearl's power, several groups found themselves involved in the restoration of both Terrania and Aquium. These key characters have to unite and work together to bring the separated parts of the Mother Pearl back together lest both their worlds destroy each other.*This storyline has always been a work in progress but the basic plot is still the same.Updates sporadically.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just to note, this OC storyline has been a work in progress for a few years now, but I'm far enough with the storyline that I can try writing it. However, since I'm posting as I'm writing, some things might be a little bit weird? I hope it's still readable and stuff, though.
> 
> This story is set in its own universe but the characters and stuff are based on Sonic and all that. You can find more OC stuff on my profile.
> 
> I'll be posting this here on AO3 by parts because I want this version to be at least not as rough as the one of FF.net where I post the chapters as soon as I'm done with them. If you somehow feel like you want to follow along as I update you can head over to RoboZephyr on FF.net too I suppose hahah.

Legends tell of a world called Terrania where a strong force resided called the Mother Pearl. The Mother Pearl had always been a benevolent force, her powers constantly used for the peace of the realm. Despite the Mother Pearl's mysterious origins, the people of Terrania revered the Mother Pearl. They called her kindness a blessing and her presence a hope. They faithfully guarded the Mother Pearl for centuries, employing priests and priestesses from the Seaside Clan- a clan of those capable of handling the Mother Pearl's power, to take care of the Mother Pearl.

The world of Terrania, under the Mother Pearl's influence, became a prosperous and flourishing land. It was a world where about ten percent of the world were actual landmasses. The remaining ninety percent of Terrania were vast oceans, seas, and lakes extending for as far as the eye could see. Many of the people on Terrania lived on the ocean, and many of the resources came from the ocean. This was because Terrania had barely any water long ago. It was for reasons like this that the people felt a deep gratitude for the force known as the Mother Pearl; it was the blessing of vast waters that provided the resources the people of Terrania had desperately needed.

Of course, despite the years of peace and prosperity, there was a corruption stirring within the Seaside Clan. There was a group of clan renegades who were blinded by the infinite possibilities the Mother Pearl possessed. Late into the night, they stole away the Mother Pearl to use her for their own selfish desires. Before the renegades could do any damage to the world, the Mother Pearl in a fit of anger banished the Seaside Clan from Terrania and into another realm, removing the Seaside Clan from their duties as her protectors permanently.

Once the act was done, the Mother Pearl broke. She split herself into seven pieces and scattered herself across the globe. Her power, while still strong to maintain the balance and blessings she provided to Terrania, hid away from the use of others. With the Mother Pearl's hidden power and scattered pieces, the fragments of this benevolent force were soon lost for years to come.

Where the Seaside Clan had gone in the midst of it all, no one in Terrania knows. The Mother Pearl knew, of course. After being punished by the Mother Pearl, the Seaside Clan found themselves in a parallel world called Aquium, a world of vast fertile lands and vibrant skies. The percentage of water was only thirty percent, but irrigation was still incredibly strong in places near water. As a parallel world, Aquium had many similarities to Terrania that legends would often talk about how even the inhabitants of Aquium were parallel to Terrania, even if they were not the same person. One of the main differences is that Aquium did not have the full presence of the Mother Pearl, but that did not mean they were completely cut off. Their cultures and the core of their way of life were still heavily influenced by the Mother Pearl, even if they did not know the name of the Mother Pearl at the time.

When the Seaside Clan arrived in Aquium some centuries ago, there were huge amounts of discord within the clan between those faithful to the Mother Pearl and the renegades who stole her away. The Seaside Clan exiled the renegades and afterward kept themselves away from the inhabitants of Aquium. They continued to revere the Mother Pearl, connecting themselves to the power that held up their hopes. The Seaside Clan kept their old traditions alive and passed them from generation to generation. They did that in the hopes that they could atone, but while they were still capable of communicating and wielding the Mother Pearl's power, they could not return home.

Meanwhile, the renegades with nowhere else to go made their own clan for themselves. While they still followed the Mother Pearl, they integrated with the local inhabitants and their traditions blended in with the local traditions. Eventually they formed a home of their own with those who were willing to atone for their corrupt desires. This home they built, out of a desire to seek forgiveness from the heavens for their scornful actions towards the Mother Pearl, soon became known as the Heavedy Tribe.

About a millennium had passed since these events took place. Yet, the people of Terrania and Aquium continued to revere the Mother Pearl. In Terrania, some searched for her pieces in hopes to restore her, but the corruptive nature that started in the Seaside Clan spread in Terrania, causing some to start searching for her to use her power as their own. The Mother Pearl had hidden herself because of this. Though, somehow, there are some Terranians who say that the Mother Pearl was waiting. They say she had been waiting for the right time. Though, they do not know what was meant by the Mother Pearl waiting for the right time. With the long existence of her power, however, come the years where that power starts to dwindle.

In the midst of the Mother Pearl's dwindling power, years and years after the events that were told in legends, a tyrant by the name of Cirus rose to power in Terrania. A fox with snow coloured fur, he grew to desire the pieces of the Mother Pearl. The pieces were called the Seven Spirit Pearls, and Cirus knew that they held tremendous power when brought together. With a fascination for artificial life, he sought the Spirit Pearls in order to build his own perfect world. That was, at least, what people knew of his intentions.

Cirus was a genius in his field, creating Frankenstein monsters from, well, Cirus claimed the "parts" he used were from previously living beings, but no one was brave enough to confirm it. Either way, he used his creations to search for the Spirit Pearls to bring them together. From witness accounts, Cirus' creations were incomplete. He had robotic parts to substitute for life and he needed the Spirit Pearls to truly breathe life into the beings he created. It took Cirus years and years, but after combing the globe, he managed to find five Spirit Pearls.

While finding the remaining two Spirit Pearls, Cirus grew incredibly restless. The people of Terrania were already suffering from his mindless hoards of incomplete, artificial beings, but their suffering grew worse due to Cirus' frustration. Terrania bore a chaos that could only come from fiction written about the undead. It was a nightmarish hell for those who were unfortunate to be affected by the robotic, zombie-esque creations of Cirus. Towns and villages were ransacked by Cirus' minions, and very few of the Terranians could stand up to Cirus' power. With the banishment of the Seaside Clan and the scarcity of those who could still grasp the Mother Pearl's power, the people of Terrania were at a loss.

However, a small resistance rose. No one could fully explain how, but a lone tenrec with mossy green fur and an IQ to rival Cirus fought his way through each and every horde of Cirus' creations. The tenrec fought with an incredible wit that those who saw him in action claimed that he had been blessed by the Mother Pearl's power. They were partially right. The tenrec had the remaining two Spirit Pearls on his person, and he found that he was fully capable of using the true strength the Spirit Pearls had.

Cirus merely used the five pearls to breathe life into his arttificial beings, but this tenrec used the two pearls he had as if he could really feel the life of the Mother Pearl giving him strength, whether or not anyone believed in that notion didn't matter. The young tenrec barrelled his way through Cirus' minions. However, it was not enough. The tenrec could not do it on his own.

Suddenly, as if the Mother Pearl was intervening, Terrania shook for the very first time, and the first of many rifts since the Seaside Clan's banishment opened up into the world. Right before the tenrec's eyes, a young tenrec maiden with turquoise coloured fur appeared in front of him. She wore a traditional priestess garb from the Seaside Clan. Though, her garb was not exactly the same, as if the style and patterns of the Seaside Clan were combined with the style and patterns of a different culture.

Despite being unsure why the maiden was in Terrania, she lent a helping hand to the tenrec and the two fought bravely. It was a surprise to many when they saw the power the maiden held, and that she was able to use the full potential of the Spirit Pearls. With her clothing being incredibly similar to the Seaside Clan, people could only assume that she was a descendant of the ones who were once so deeply connected to the Mother Pearl.

It took a great number of years before the two heroes were finally able to fight Cirus head on. During the final battle, however, while wielding six of the seven Spirit Pearls, the maiden lost her life while fighting. With her sacrifice, the two of them were able to render Cirus' plans useless. Even though Cirus was not completely defeated, Terrania was able to regain the peace they once had.

The entire world of Terrania sang the praises of the two heroes. The tenrec was Polaris, and the maiden was Maya Lily. Even though times were happy, there was still a bittersweet feeling that came from the loss of Maya. So many people had cried from sadness and gratitude for Maya's efforts, and Polaris had built a memorial for her on a cliff overlooking one of Terrania's vast oceans.

As Terrania had returned to their days of peace, Cirus had gone into hiding. Polaris, still full of grief, retired as a hero since Cirus disappeared. He built a home by Maya's memorial and lived out his days in his seaside home together with the two-year-old daughter that was born from the love he and Maya shared while they spent so much time together.

As for the Spirit Pearls, Polaris could not regain the pearl Cirus had, and the remaining six were immediately scattered back around the globe of their own accord. It was only assumed the pearls scattered to avoid anyone else wielding them for misdeeds. The Mother Pearl's power was at rest once more, waiting for the right moment for her power to peak.

When the time comes for the Mother Pearl's power to peak and restore the worlds, everything truly will be at a perfect balance. Meanwhile, the Mother Pearl's power has continued to dwindle, and if nothing is done she soon will become nothing more than a set of pearls that grant a limited amount of power. Terrania was temporarily able to avoid the suffering imbalance because of Polaris and Maya's combined efforts with the Spirit Pearls, but that was just the beginning of it all.

Both Terrania and Aquium had been losing the Mother Pearl's power, and they soon will fall into chaos. Chaos started in Terrania, but soon a bout of chaos will start in Aquium as well. Each time chaos reigns, it spreads and grows until the chaos eventually envelops both worlds. In order to quell the chaos in the parallel worlds, it will take the unified forces of Terranians and Aquis to bridge their two worlds lest the worlds destroy each other.

In Terrania, everything started with the Seaside Clan. In Aquium, the chaos will start only when the gears of fate begin to turn in the Heavedy Tribe. The Mother Pearl's power in both Terrania and Aquium had been weaving the threads, connecting the key players needed to restore the worlds to their former glory. The legends that started long ago, they finally will see their conclusion.


	2. In Which Everything Starts with a Disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward  
> Part 1: Reverie Luna

Reverie Luna had been up before dawn. She was frantically scrambling around the center of the tribe grounds, making sure that everything was in order before her eldest brother's Ceremony of Life. It was a very momentous occasion since for Valour it was the time where the role of the head of the tribe was passed down from her father to the eldest child. Although, Reverie worried if there was going to be any debate on the matter.

Reverie, despite being only the middle child, was actually the firstborn. Which, to Reverie, made a lot of sense. Her brothers,Valour and Regalia, had been adopted into the family when Reverie was very young. Reverie and her parents had always been a family of Moon Bears. Her brother Valour, who is older than her, is a Mockingbird. Her younger brother Regalia is a Koi fish. For the most part, no one in the Heavedy Tribe had ever complained about Valour and Regalia as the two boys have always been very good. It didn't matter to Reverie what the rest of the tribe thought, but she found herself worrying whether or not her tribe will listen to her beloved brother.

So far, Valour had done much to quell her worries, often taking up roles of leadership to ensure the tribe was always at peace. Reverie was very proud of Valour and could not be happier. Though, she noticed that Valour had always been a very strong person. He was always taking care of the family, and even taking time out of his own busy schedule to make sure Reverie's own Ceremony of Life went well. The Ceremony of Life was always a busy occasion where those of age were to take up the mantle of adulthood and assume the roles they were trained to take.

Reverie's Ceremony of Life meant that she was to take up the title of Priestess, becoming the bridging gap between the Heavedy Tribe and the Mother Pearl. Reverie trained for years and years for the ceremony, and while some priests and priestesses before her had gained mystical abilities from the experience of being closely connected to the Mother Pearl, Reverie had only found her close connection manifested in her ridiculous strength.

She had only recently gained her super strength, after an incident where she found herself caught in the midst of a group of ruffians. Her brother Regalia gallantly appeared to save her, but only after Reverie discovered the gift she had gotten as a blessing from the Mother Pearl. Regardless, Regalia fought his way through for his sister's safety and they both returned home safe and sound. Since Regalia felt bad for not being able to help his sister better, he had fashioned up a pair of bracelets to help Reverie gain control of her newfound power.

Reverie continued to make sure that Valour's Ceremony of Life went well, checking each and every part of the ceremony meticulously that she did not notice Valour approach her.

"Revi? What are you doing up so early?" Valour asked, rubbing his eyes before preening his feathers.

"Morning!" Reverie flashed a smile, "Just making sure everything's alright," She stifled a yawn and held a hand on her forehead.

Immediately, Valour went to his sister's side and held her as he examined her head, "You okay? Did you get enough sleep?"

"You worry too much," Reverie muttered, "but not as much as me, I suppose."

Valour chuckled before patting her, "You should go back to sleep. It's okay to relax, alright? I'll get Regalia to check as soon as he returns."

"He's not back yet?" Reverie asked, "I could've sworn he only went to check a disturbance in the ocean down south not too long ago."

"You know how Reg is," Valour replied, "He's very dedicated to his work."

"I know that all too well," Reverie laughed a little, "He spent a week doing nothing but work when he made me my power bracelets. You know how mom worries whenever he gets caught up in his research."

"Who knows? Maybe Reg is already done with checking the disturbance. He probably just found himself researching the potential causes for why things seemed off." Valour laughed along with Reverie, only to usher her away from tribe grounds and towards their home, "Alright, enough talk. It's back to bed with you."

"What? So soon? I just woke up!" Reverie protested, but even with her strength, she could not face her eldest brother.

"Look at you, you maniac, it's still hours before dawn. You know I just finished making the _night_ rounds, right?" Valour gave Reverie a serious expression.

Reverie paused, "What time is it?" She asked sheepishly.

"Three in the morning, now go to bed."

Reverie sighed and stopped with her frantic work. She chuckled in an embarrassed manner after being caught awake so early and made her way home with a stubborn pout. Maybe it was a good idea that she returned to get some sleep, though, because as she left she found she had a sinking feeling in her stomach after hearing that her brother Regalia did not come home. Regalia had promised days ago that he would return within a few days, and she only hoped he broke his promise only because he was too busy examining the environment to notice the time.

Sometimes Reverie wondered if her instinct came as part of the power the Mother Pearl had given her. She hoped that for once, she was wrong.

By the time Reverie had reached her bed, she was already prepared to fall asleep. She collapsed directly onto her bed and was immediately out like a light. Reverie had always been an energetic soul, and thus, she would find herself burnt out from time to time. That night was one of those nights where she was burnt out. As she slept, Reverie's dreams were filled with the preparations for Valour's Ceremony of Life. She dreamt of making sure each and every single detail was in order. She dreamt about happily chatting about the procedures of the ceremony to her family. Reverie had a small smile in her sleep, thinking about how much Valour would become a wonderful and dependable leader of the tribe. After all, to Reverie, Valour was always a wonderful and dependable big brother.

In the midst of Reverie's dreaming, she temporarily woke up, noticing that Valour was in the process of putting her blanket over her body. She was half asleep but she could've sworn she could see the tired eyes her brother had, and that Valour looked rather frustrated. However, that notion was quickly waved away by Valour giving Reverie a gentle smile before quietly telling her to go back to sleep.

When Reverie fell asleep once more, she had different dreams. Although, after waking up in the morning, Reverie could not remember her dreams. The only thing she could remember was the feeling that she needed to look for Regalia, and soon.

The thought that her younger brother might be in trouble plagued her. No matter what Reverie throughout the day did she always ended up thinking about Regalia. Her gaze often rested upon the great river that led to the ocean from Lake Heavedy- the lake by their tribe. She often found herself quietly sneaking into Regalia's bedroom, in the hopes that she could find clues as to where exactly her little brother went. Reverie worried so much that she had to actually spend effort to make it seem that she was fine.

"Are you sure you're quite alright, honey?" Reverie's mother, who was a priestess, was busy in the Luna home polishing the staff she used to connect herself to the Mother Pearl. Reverie's mother, Trein, was gifted the ability to sense certain things. By all means, she was not a seer of any kind, but Trein was always somehow able to feel what the Mother Pearl might have wanted. Sometimes, she could feel certain things from others as well, provided that it was related to the Mother Pearl.

"I'm alright," Reverie muttered, she was busy putting together some floral decorations for her own Ceremony of Life, "Do you know when Reggy will be back?"

Trein chuckled at Reverie's use of Regalia's childhood nickname, "I'm afraid I'm not so sure, honey-pie, but I'm sure things will sort themselves out sure enough. You know Regalia is also gifted with power, right?"

"Did he take his toolbox with him?"

"Of course," Trein hummed as she continued to polish her staff, "Regalia knows you'll nag him if he didn't bring his toolbox with him."

"He always has to!" Reverie huffed, "He has the best tinkering ability out of everyone in the tribe, and his toolbox helps him make stuff, and I want to be sure he has everything he needs in case anything happens." Reverie held up a long rope with flowers tied to it, it took her a few days but she finally managed to finish it, "Just like how my bracelets he made make it easier for me to do dainty work like this."

"That's beautiful, Reverie," Trein smiled as she observed her daughter's handiwork, "You can put it aside before you go do the heavy lifting."

"Did the merchants come again with the supplies?"

"They came earlier this morning, but you were asleep then. It'll take all day before they could bring everything to the storage."

Reverie raised a brow, "That heavy? What did we get?"

"There seems to be a lot of trouble going on lately, so a lot of the things we procured are for self defense. Your father and Valour were very alarmed when you faced those ruffians."

"I dealt with that myself though," Reverie grinned, "I'm happy to do it again too if needed."

Trein laughed, "You are quite the shield for this tribe aren't you?" Trein went to Reverie and hugged her, "To think that you're growing up so fast. I'm so proud of you, Revi."

Reverie blushed and leaned into her mother's embrace, "Thanks, mom."

"Now run along, I'm sure everyone needs your strength." Trein released her daughter and Reverie promptly left, leaving her mother alone in their house. Trein's proud smile faded as she watched Reverie's figure grow smaller in the distance from the open door. She had used her ability on Reverie and found that there was something that was needed from her. Trein knew that the Mother Pearl wanted something quite large for her daughter, and she silently hoped that whatever it was, she would get to see Reverie return from that safely.

"Thanks so much for the help again, Reverie." Valour grinned at Reverie who was holding two heavy boxes propped upon her shoulders. He whistled in amazement, "I don't know why you were given such strength but I'm certainly not complaining."

"I'm not complaining either," Reverie, with a spring in her step, carried the boxes towards the storehouse in the tribe, "I prefer doing this that sitting around at home."

"Your strength has become a very important asset to this tribe that sometimes I wonder what we'd do without you." Valour, who was carrying a smaller box in both arms, gave Reverie a sad smile, "As much as possible I don't want us to become dependent on you."

"What do you mean? I'm happy to help out the tribe no problem."

"That's not what I meant," Valour muttered, "Not all of us have abilities like you do."

"I'm supposed to be a priestess so it makes sense that I have abilities like this. I mean Mom is a priestess, and I'm assuming that Regalia might end up as a priest or something." Reverie's gaze fell upon the great rivers once more as she walked, her thoughts wandering towards where Regalia might have gone. "Usually those of us closely connected to the Mother Pearl-" Her voice trailed off.

"Tend to have powers in order to fully attune themselves to her. Yes, you don't have to remind me." Valour sighed, "As impressive as your strength is, I do wonder why you were given that sort of ability in the first place. All I can guess is that there's something you're needed for."

"Do you think the Mother Pearl might be behind it?"

"Hm, I mean," Valour paused, "No one in the Heavedy Tribe is as devout about the Mother Pearl compared to a long time ago. The Mother Pearl is still a special part of our culture and tradition but who knows. With the world so big, we have no clue what might be out there."

"What about the legends?"

"There might be some truth to it," Valour's voice was quiet, "I mean our culture is very close to the Seaside Clan, isn't it? The only thing is that we can't tell for sure that the Seaside Clan really came from Terrania."

"You mean like if Terrania is actually a metaphor for something else or not?" Reverie continued to gaze out into the great river, feeling as if her eyes were looking beyond where the river was flowing. Regalia was never away from the tribe for so long. She couldn't help but feel as if there was something amiss.

Regalia was a very smart person. His ability was that he was able to channel some of the Mother Pearl's power into an object. It was something like artificing of a small degree. However, no matter how eager Regalia is to study and learn and whatnot, he was always very timid. Reverie worried often whether or not her youngest brother will be alright on his own. Regalia was the youngest at about sixteen, with Reverie being eighteen, and Valour being at the age of twenty two.

"Revi?" Valour stopped in front of Reverie, who was already at a standstill staring out into the horizon, "What's really on your mind?"

"Huh?" Reverie broke from her daze, "What are you talking about?"

"Something is up, I can tell." Valour sighed, "It's Regalia isn't it?"

"Am I worrying too much?"

"I'm not sure," Valour was quiet, "I tried to look last night."

As soon as Valour admitted that Reverie knew that he was just as worried as she was. She remembered how Valour looked when she briefly woke up earlier. She wondered if she should have been doing something other than just worried about her brother. Reverie knew fretting about it would do nothing but make her upset, and it wouldn't do to just sit around crying about things.

"Were you able to find anything?" Reverie asked, her voice was hushed.

"No," Valour shook his head, "I couldn't find any sign of him by the ocean. I tried asking if anyone saw him but they said he stopped looking around the place after he saw the disturbance disappeared."

"Are you sure? Regalia isn't someone who would just up and go away on his own somewhere."

"You never know, Revi." Valour started walking again at a slower pace with Reverie following beside him, "Regalia tends to keep to himself sometimes."

While the two of them were talking, the sinking feeling that Reverie felt earlier in the night started growing much stronger. Reverie began to think about all the possibilities that could have befallen her youngest brother. She began to think about just how much power she held and how little she was doing to help her family. With all the thoughts that reeled in Reverie's mind, there was one clear thought that ran strong inside her head.

_Go._

__

__

_Go find him._

From the moment Reverie knew Regalia did not return home, she should have gone to look for him herself. What was the use of being given her strength if she did not even lift a finger to protect her most precious family? She claimed she would protect the tribe, but what was the use if her something happened to her brother? Whether or not he would be fine on his own Reverie knew she might just be overreacting, but she also felt incredibly guilty for not even trying to do something.

There was a feeling that was telling Reverie to go. Maybe it was the Mother Pearl. Maybe it was her instinct telling her to go. Reverie's only excuse to go aside from worrying is that she wanted to know he was fine. Well, was it really an excuse if even her brother was looking for him? Reverie knew that her parents were also most likely worried as well. The only thing was that their father is the current tribe head and their mother is the current head priestess. They did not have the freedom to look even if they wanted to.

Reverie trusted that if her mother believed Regalia was fine then there was no need to worry too much, but Reverie also needed to know why her instincts were telling her to go look for him as soon as possible. Was fate trying to pull her somewhere? Reverie believed in the Mother Pearl's influence, but she also was aware that it might not be entirely the case. The Mother Pearl has never been a deity of some kind, but rather she was always referred to as just a force; a benevolent being waiting for the time for her powers to be regained. Reverie knew the legends.

"What if," Reverie started, "What if I went to look for him?"

"What?" Valour gave a look of surprise, "It's a bit dangerous don't you think?"

"Then all the more it's dangerous for Regalia," Reverie protested, "You know I'm strong. You know I can handle myself just fine." The two of them finally made their way to the storehouse where Reverie gestured with her foot for Valour to open the door to let them go in.

"I know but,"

"No "buts" about it," Reverie found a space in the storehouse and settled the boxes she was still carrying on the ground, "You and I both know that nothing so far has been able to handle what I'm capable of doing."

"And that's what I'm afraid of too," Valour settled his own box down, "All of us in the tribe know you're strong and we're proud of that, but I'm afraid that all of us are hiding behind the safety of your power without trying to do something ourselves. Why do you think dad and I got more supplies than usual from the merchants?"

"I'm not trying to be cocky," Reverie did not want to fight her brother, not when there were more pressing matters, "I'm not someone who's just ready to jump into the fray whenever possible. I don't like fighting," she shook her head, "But all the more I don't like not being able to do something when there's a problem like this." The room they were in inside the storehouse was silent, Reverie clenched her fists out of frustration. "Do you think I like sitting around worrying about Regalia's safety knowing that you're out there risking life and limb to make sure our brother comes home?"

"Of course not," Valour replied, "But we can never be too sure, Regalia could honest to goodness, be perfectly fine. Where would that leave us then? We would have been worrying over nothing! It's better that I go and see for myself instead of having you run off suddenly trying to find him."

"Valour, you're going to be the leader of this tribe very soon! Why does it have to be you specifically?"

"Because!" Valour was close to raising his voice, but he wasn't angry at Reverie, "It has to be me because I don't want to deal with the notion that my younger siblings are just suddenly vanishing and getting into trouble."

Reverie almost bit her tongue. She remembered her mother saying how Valour and her father worried endlessly during the time Reverie got caught in the midst of the ruffians. After Regalia went to bring her home, the two of them got scolded for their reckless behaviour. However, that was also why Reverie was willing to jump and go after Regalia, because he did the same for her.

"We're not trying to just disappear," Reverie sighed, "I don't want to see my siblings vanish just as much as you do."

"Then stay with the tribe and wait until I bring Regalia back."

No matter what Valour said, Reverie knew she could not follow through with what he wanted. She silently apologised to Valour and everyone in her tribe and family. There was no convincing Reverie. She needed to go, and her mind was already made up.

As soon as she thought of a plan and prepared everything, Reverie would leave the tribe to search for her brother. Valour was going to be very unhappy and her parents were going to be incredibly worried, but it would just be for a while. After she returns Regalia home, she knew things would be back to normal. Although, she worried because there was something that was instinctively telling her that this was not to be the case.

For the very first time during her training to be a priestess for the Heavedy Tribe, Reverie actually hoped the Mother Pearl would help her make sure things were okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I forgot how AO3 does their chapters oops. I think this format should be fine for now?


	3. Reverie Runs Off In Search of Regalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part 1: Reverie Luna

It didn't take long for Reverie to put together a plan. She spent much of her childhood going on small camping trips with her brothers for both leisure and training, so Reverie already knew, for the most part, which items to pack with her in a small backpack. The only things that Reverie did not know, were the layout of the surrounding land, and where exactly Regalia went after being in the ocean down south. The other thing that Reverie did not know, was how she was going to leave the tribe without anyone stopping her.

Reverie could leave in the cover of night, but after thinking about what the immediate areas surrounding the Heavedy Tribe were, she decided not to. The Heavedy Tribe was situated on a plains area right by a great river that led to the ocean. Sure, the open space meant that Reverie could seen anyone from a mile away, but that also meant others could see her as well. Reverie did not want to risk passing through the forested area nearby too. That was where she initially faced the ruffians when her abilities came to her. She remembered how sudden that happened.

Either way, her options were not the greatest when it came to leaving in the darkness. Luckily, she had a good idea on how to get herself close to the ocean Regalia was last seen at. Since Reverie's Ceremony of Life was drawing as near as Valour's, Reverie felt that she could use her training as a excuse to run off. However, even if she had the right supplies and could leave at the right time, it wouldn't do if she didn't know where to go. There was only one person who could help her when it came to navigation, but Regalia was the one who was currently missing.

About a week after and around two days before Valour's Ceremony of Life, Reverie found the perfect time in the early morning before dawn to sneak into Regalia's room to see if he had any tinkered objects to help her with her search. As much as possible, Reverie did not want to disturb anything that was in Regalia's room. Usually, Reverie respected the privacies of her brothers, but this was a special case. As Reverie searched, she would always return anything she picked up and properly placed things where they were if she moved them. She only stopped searching when she found a curious little device sitting next to papers of blueprints on Regalia's work desk.

Reverie noted that it was in the shape of a modern handheld gaming console, and she remembered Regalia returning from a trip to one of the nearby towns with a couple of handheld consoles. The consoles looked old and used when Regalia had gotten them, but after inspecting them now, Reverie saw that he had fixed them up as if they were brand new. She glanced at the blueprints to see what it was and saw that the device was a scanner capable of scanning the area and making a map of the surrounding topography.

Reverie tentatively picked up the model that was left on the desk, noticing that some of the papers underneath were about the device itself. She took a look at the papers, reading the contents to herself. The first paper was a set of instructions Regalia put together on how to operate the scanner. The next few papers after were about how he had made several models and brought the latest one with him when he noticed the ocean down south had a strange, irregular disturbance. Reverie discovered that the device she had was actually the one that came before the device Regalia brought with him. She found that it was operational, but there were a few bugs that she could not recognise from the scrawled notes on one of Regalia's papers. She felt that she should get Regalia to organise his desk when he returned.

Reverie shrugged before bringing the device with her to her room where she carefully stashed it in her backpack. She had everything she needed. All she had to do was ensure that she had an opportunity to leave. Reverie waited quietly and listened to see if anyone in her home was awake. When she confirmed that everyone in her family was still asleep, Reverie snuck out of her house just as dawn's first light began to creep over the horizon.

"Reverie? Where are you going at this hour?"

Reverie stopped in her tracks as soon as she set foot outside. She forgot that her father was always the first to awake as the tribe's current head. Reverie clutched the straps of her backpack and smiled, "Morning, pop. I'm going to the shrine to ask for blessings for Valour."

"Ah, the shrine by the sea?" Reverie's father, Solace, nodded with a smile as wide as Reverie's, "Will you make it back on time?"

"Yep!" Reverie grinned even though she knew she was lying, "I mean this is a really important event, and I've been pretty busy. I really wanted to show my support, though."

"I'm sure Valour would be happy to know." Solace's smile faded, "Now if only Regalia could come back soon, that would make me feel infinitely better."

Reverie nodded, "Has Regalia told you anything about what's been going on?"

"I'm afraid not, kiddo." Solace shook his head, "He didn't even return to report about the disturbance."

"What do you think is happening, pop?"

Solace chuckled and sighed, "You never stop referring to me like I'm an old man, huh?" He turned to look south towards the direction where Regalia had went, "I can't say that I know exactly what is happening, but I know that the Mother Pearl definitely has something to do with it."

"Is she the one behind it?"

"I don't think that is the case. Remember, the Mother Pearl's power is constantly flowing throughout Aquium. We are "gifted" our abilities only because we are closely connected to the force we refer to as the Mother Pearl, but that is a lesson for another time. You must get going if you want to return on time."

"If I return on time will you give me the "we are sponges" lesson again?"

"Only if you forget what I taught you."

Reverie laughed and waved goodbye to her father before she ran off. She felt guilty knowing that Solace had no clue where Reverie was really going. Sure, she was going to stop by the shrine near the south on the way, but she was definitely not going to be back in time for Valour's ceremony. She had no choice, though, if she left earlier or after Valour's Ceremony of Life, Valour was more liable to going after her. Reverie didn't want that. It's not that she was stubborn to ask for his help, she just didn't want anything to happen to her brother.

Reverie knew that she was definitely going to get scolded for this. She had no regrets, though. All Reverie needed to do, was find her youngest brother.

It took Reverie about a day before she reached the shrine by the sea. It was a small, mossy, stone covered statue of a clam shrouded in thick greenery. In the center of the clam was an iridescent pearl with a diameter of about an inch or so. Reverie knew this pearl was not the Mother Pearl. The Mother Pearl's physical entity resided in Terrania.

Reverie sat down by the little shrine and positioned herself so that she was facing the statue directly. She kept silent, watching the pearl intently. She wasn't sure if she was intending to pray or not, not that it was necessary to pray to the Mother Pearl, but she did chat a bit about her present situation. Reverie wasn't particularly expectant on some kind of miracle that she wondered if her casual outlook was actually fitting for a priestess. Then again, she felt very intune with the Mother Pearl's power.

Reverie felt her instincts telling her that she was on the right track, ensuring that any guilt feelings she had for leaving were now gone. To her, the Mother Pearl was always an entity surrounding and opening the channels of connection from one thing to another. The gifts and abilities that some gained were actually a channel being opened between the Mother Pearl's power and the person themself. Reverie closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting herself grow calm and feeling the surrounding powers wash over her.

The last thing Reverie saw was the sun fading in the distance to give way into the night, and then she was asleep.

When Reverie woke the next day she mentally scolded herself for falling asleep in such an open and vulnerable position. However, any thoughts of self-displeasure vanished when she saw how the shrine faced a section of greenery that was parted to display the vast ocean, touched by the light of the coming morning. She looked in awe at the daylight being reflected in the water. She felt a hint of bittersweet feelings as she realised that tomorrow was the day of Valour's Ceremony of Life, and she would not be able to see it. In her head, she happily thought about how immensely proud she was of Valour, and then she thought about how she and her family will be much happier if Regalia came home.

Reverie sincerely wondered where her brother went, heading to the edge of the great river near the ocean to freshen up for the day. She hoped she could find Regalia soon so things could go back to normal. She pulled out the handheld device to see what the surrounding area was like, before she made her way down to the beach. She could see she was in the right area, down south by the ocean, but after looking around there was no sign of anything. There was no trace of life and Reverie did not know what to do.

She could try dunking her head into the ocean to try asking someone in the waters, but she knew that she was not a fish like Regalia. It would be counter-productive for Reverie in that present moment to try talking underwater as a Moonbear. Sure, Reverie could swim but she felt like her efforts would end up futile. The most she could do was look around the area before seeing if there were any nearby villages or towns.

With a heavy sigh, Reverie looked at the handheld device. She saw that most of the land was populated. It made sense to Reverie, because of the long history of Heavedy Tribe's integration with the inhabitants of Aquium after the Mother Pearl's banishment. It was only the Seaside Clan who kept to themselves. While she had not really left the tribe herself to visit those populated areas, Valour and Regalia had gone to the other places outside the tribe plenty of times.

Reverie just she never felt that there was a reason to leave in the first place. Although, she was beginning to think that she should have gone out of the tribe more often. The unfamiliar environment was making Reverie feel uncomfortable and small. There was so much she did not know. Reverie took a look at the nearest town and immediately realised she had no clue what she was getting herself into.

Did she make a mistake?

_Don't give up._

_Move forward._

Reverie clutched the device in her hands. She was afraid, and she felt angry at herself for feeling so uneasy when she barely took a step outside her comfort zone. She quickly headed back to the shrine by the sea, kneeling in front of the statue and gently placing a hand on the pearl, an act that she was allowed to do since she was to be a priestess. Reverie took deep breaths and looked at the iridescent colour of the pearl in the clam statue.

She couldn't head home now. Reverie resolved to find Regalia, and she couldn't dawdle around any longer. With a silent prayer, she expressed her well wishes for her tribe and family. She expressed her congratulatory feelings for Valour. Then she expressed her hopes for finding Regalia, and then she told herself to be brave.

With a final look towards the direction of her tribe, Reverie nodded and turned around, heading back to the beach once more. She looked around the beach for any sign of Regalia, and when she found nothing she looked at the handheld device to examine the map on the screen. Reverie noticed that in the west from her location there was a place by the name of Brightriver. Judging by the fairly large borders on the map, Brightriver was most likely a town.

Reverie searched her memories to see if she knew anything about Brightriver, realising that she could only remember that most people who come to the Heavedy Tribe pass through that town. She assumed that was where the merchants came from, and then she wondered if Brightriver was the place Valour and Regalia visited often. It was not the best of clues, but Reverie figured that Brightriver was a good place to start if she wanted to find Regalia.

However, she felt self-conscious about going to a town when she appeared to be a sheltered girl from the plains. Reverie hoped she could at least rent a room in an inn, in case she needed to stay the night before heading off again. She wasn't that clueless about being outside her tribe. She listened to Valour and Regalia when they talked about it.

Reverie checked the device to see the exact direction the town was. When she was sure that she wouldn't get lost, she quickly made her way to Brightriver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more of a shorter chapter because not much happened aside from Reverie actually leaving the Heavedy Tribe. Although, from this point onwards, there'll be more plot as Reverie's journey to find her little brother continues into bigger waters.


	4. Brightriver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part 1: Reverie Luna

When Reverie arrived in Brightriver, she found herself awestruck. She was correct in assuming that Brightriver was a town, but she didn't think about how large the town actually was. The map on her device could not do the town of Brightriver justice. There were so many Aquis people everywhere: walking, running, the whole town was bustling. Reverie could hear the sounds of feet hitting the pavement, and people were constantly chattering amongst themselves or were on their phones. Many of the people seemed to be rushing about with their jobs, but others were just hanging around and loitering on the streets. To Reverie, Brightriver was much, much busier than the Heavedy Tribe in the plains lands. Then again, by the time Reverie arrived in the town, it was already noon and most people were hurrying to grab their lunch.

Speaking of, Reverie felt her stomach rumble as she realised she hadn't eaten anything since she woke up that morning. She brought food and money with her of course, she would be a fool to have not brought any. However, the rations she had gotten herself were going to run out eventually. She wondered if it was alright to do a bit of stocking up since she was in town. Reverie felt a little concerned since her backpack could only hold so much.

She wasn't sure where she should go to gather the necessary resources. Reverie hoped that there would be a town map somewhere, but considering the day and age, she wondered if something like that was available. She felt a bit remorseful that she did not try to keep up with the outside world, but she supposed now's a good time to start as any. Well, not that she had anything technologic she could start with aside from the navigation device. She didn't want to mess with something Regalia had made, though.

Reverie hurried through the bustling people and through the town, looking for any signs of an inn. Luckily, she did not have to look long. Near the edge of Brightriver was a large, traditional, medieval looking building with a wooden sign hanging by the doorframe. The sign read "Forest Breeze Inn Tavern," and Reverie noticed that many people were going in and out of the building. When she entered the building she saw that it looked as medieval on the inside as the outside, except the place was also updated to have modern amenities. Forest Breeze was a very warm looking place, and Reverie found it to be rather homey.

Taking a deep breath, Reverie scanned the inside of the tavern to look for the innkeeper. She deduced who the innkeeper was from watching the way people interacted with others. When she was able to confirm the identity of the innkeeper, she walked up to him to ask if he had any available rooms.

"For how long are you staying?" The innkeeper smiled, and Reverie couldn't help but think that it was too obvious she was new in town.

Reverie paused, "Um, maybe a few days." She decided to give herself some leeway in case anything happened.

"Of course, that would be about 5 Kenn per night."

Reverie tried to hide a sigh of relief. The price of the inn was actually affordable. Reverie was worried she was going to end up with a lot more than she bargained for in terms of funds. Just as she finished the entire exchange, she was led upstairs and into her room, which wasn't large. It was smaller than her room back at home, but Reverie didn't mind. She found that her room was clean and well prepared. It had updated amenities like the rest of the inn, and she saw that the window was almost facing the ocean.

Reverie stretched and laid herself down on the soft mattress of her bed and sighed, she felt like she was ready to sleep again. However, there was so much for her to do and she needed to get started. She quickly took a shower and fixed herself up properly in the bathroom before taking a few things and heading downstairs. First thing's first, she needed to eat. Then afterward, she needed to go around and somehow ask if anyone had seen her brother. Reverie prepared herself for a long, hard, day.

"Hey, don't tell me that's you, Reverie."

A voice called out to Reverie as she ordered food from her seat in the tavern. It took her some time to register someone was calling for her, as the tavern was incredibly loud from all the noise the customers were making. While some were there to have their lunch, others were busy drinking the afternoon away. The waiter that was at Reverie's table promptly finished taking her order before he strode off to give her order to the chef. When Reverie turned to see who called out to her, she saw that the merchants who frequently stop by her tribe were seated at a table close to hers.

"Reverie Luna," One of the merchants started to speak, "What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for Regalia, have you seen him by chance?" Reverie replied.

"Not at all," They said, "We'd see him if he came through here. Maybe ask the guy at the counter."

"The guy at the-" Before Reverie could finish her sentence, the merchant shouted over the noise in the tavern.

"Hey, Cedar!" He called, "You see Regalia recently?"

The smartly dressed deer who was the innkeeper Reverie had talked to, and looked to be in his fifties, walked over to where the merchants were seated. He looked incredibly uptight, but he also had the aura of a stern, yet a gentle grandfather. "Now, why would you be looking for young Regalia Luna, my good men?"

"Why don't you ask her?" The merchant gestured towards Reverie with a grin, "The little lady needs to know, quite important."

The deer, Cedar, paused, "Who needs to know?" He asked curiously.

Reverie stood from her chair and gave a wide smile, "I do," She said, "I'm Reverie Luna, daughter of the head of the Heavedy Tribe and elder sister of Regalia."

Cedar nodded, "Ah," He started, "I had a feeling your name was familiar. I've heard about you, Valour and Regalia stop by this inn whenever they are in town."

"They do?"

"Of course," Cedar's smile peeked out from his thick, bushy mustache, "Forest Breeze is the best establishment of its kind here in Brightriver, and those two are some of my most treasured customers. Good boys, the both of them. "

"I see, that's good." Reverie smiled back, "Pardon me for being frank, uh, but have you seen Regalia by any chance?"

"Have I seen him? He has not stopped by the inn for the past few weeks."

Reverie frowned unintentionally, catching the eye of Cedar.

"Young lady, is something the matter?"

"Huh? No, nothing at all." Reverie gave a gentle smile to hide her feelings, "I'm just a little worried about my little brother being off by himself, that's all."

Cedar paused thoughtfully before he chuckled, "Well, I may not have seen the boy myself, but I'm sure someone else might've seen him in town if he was passing through. Why don't you check the docks later and see?"

"Really?" Reverie sat back down when the waiter came back with her food, she thanked him before speaking to Cedar, "Why the docks though? Do you think Regalia had to leave the mainlands for some reason?"

"I assume that might be the case knowing your brother." Cedar gestured to the direction of the ocean, "Whenever Regalia comes in here by himself, he's always talking about wanting to travel for his research. Based on the recent tremors happening across the waters, it's likely he took off to learn the cause."

"Tremors?" Reverie was surprised, she managed to find some new information on Regalia, but she wasn't sure if she was happy about it.

"Yes, the tremors. They've been occurring every now and then in the oceans recently," Cedar gave a grim expression, "I heard that in the east over by Castlebury the tremors have become more like frequent earthquakes. It's quite alarming."

Reverie thought for a moment. Castlebury sounded like the next place she needed to go because it sounded like the situation there would be something that would catch Regalia's interest. She was definitely worried. It seemed like things were getting a bit too dangerous for her liking, and she knew that she had to get Regalia home safe as soon as possible. Then again, she had a feeling that Regalia was also spending time trying to help and it would be incredibly difficult to get him to leave. If Reverie was in Regalia's position, she knew that she wouldn't want to leave so soon either.

"I'm quite surprised," Cedar's voice interrupted Reverie's thoughts, "I thought Valour told you all of these things when he stopped by this place himself the other day."

"He didn't," Reverie replied, "He had a good reason too." Reverie stood up again and held out her hand to Cedar for a handshake, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Cedar, I'll head to the docks as soon as I'm done with my meal."

"Are you going to go after him, Reverie?" Cedar asked with a concerned tone in his voice, "You know it's not going to be the safest of journeys."

"With all due respect, Valour is going to be the new head of our tribe. I'm very proud of him, and I know how much he would want to go look for Regalia too, but as of now, he is needed by our people. So, in his stead, someone has to go find our baby brother. I'm proud of Regalia too, but his elder siblings are very worried about him right now." Reverie flashed another smile.

Cedar returned the smile and shook Reverie's hand, "Well, I supposed I can't protest too hard against a priestess' words. Even if she is only in training." He chuckled when he saw Reverie's look of confusion, "They talk, you know? Whenever your brothers are here, they like talking to me. They're very proud of you too."

Reverie felt her face flush red from hearing what her brothers' have said, "Ah, I see. That's good to hear."

Cedar laughed, "Alright, I shouldn't be keeping you from your meal. When you head to the docks, turn right after leaving the inn and then make your way forward to the town square. From there, you'll be able to see the docks clearly."

"Okay, thank you!"

When Reverie finally ate her lunch, she felt a sense of determination. A lot was going on and Reverie knew that Valour didn't tell her about the information she just learnt, because she knew Valour would guess that Reverie would leave to find Regalia. Still, the fact that Valour purposely tried to think of a way to find Regalia himself despite it all bothered her. Reverie sighed and concluded that Valour probably worried a lot more than she thought. Maybe he worried even more than she did.

She knew it wasn't exactly fair. Valour was probably stuck in a position where he had to choose between his close family and the family that is his tribe. Since Reverie left before his Ceremony of Life, she knew she made the choice for him despite knowing what he wanted to do. Reverie could've worked out a better plan, she figured, but by now it was already too late. She made up her mind, and as soon as she could procure a method she would leave for Castlebury as soon as possible.

Cedar was right when he said that Reverie would be able to see the docks clearly from the town square. As soon as Reverie finished her meal, she paid for it and promptly left, following the directions that Cedar had given her. She stood in the midst of the town square, which was not as busy since lunch had ended. She took a deep breath and noticed how much the town smelt like the sea; it was salty and fishy, and the scent only served to show Reverie that she was definitely in a new environment.

Reverie had only been in Brightriver for a few hours, and she felt saddened by the thought that she would be departing for Castlebury very soon. Of course, she still needed to find a way to get there, and then she needed an easier map to read of the entirety of Aquium. Not to mention, Reverie needed to confirm if Regalia actually went to Castlebury. If she jumped on conclusions like that without any confirmation, she would definitely be sending herself on a wild goose chase. She decided to hurry to the docks because the sooner she found Regalia the better.

Getting down to the docks was easy. Navigating the docks was a bit of a struggle for Reverie, though, because it meant that she had to maneuver her way through the crowds of sailors and people alike, trying to carry on supplies and luggage on and off the ships. It was an obvious observation, but Reverie couldn't help but note the number of ships on the docks. She also noticed that there were plenty of official looking people standing around beside their equally official-looking ships bearing the flags of wherever they came from. Reverie felt as if it was safe to assume, that Brightriver was also some kind of port town. It seemed like a good assumption, based on the plethora of merchants and shops scattered around the town.

When she was walking up to one of the ships, Reverie could hear of conversations between the folks moving around the docks.

"Did you hear? Some Castlebury ships are docked for disaster relief supplies." Spoke a person near Reverie.

"I did," Replied another, "It was quite the tragedy, thankfully the new king of Castlebury is a great man."

"He's quite young don't you think? To be taking up such a large responsibility like that for such a big kingdom, and right when the earthquakes have been happening there as well."

"If he's capable there should be no problem."

Reverie decided that she could try to get on one of the Castlebury ships for a ride if she needed to. With that in mind, Reverie went on to see if she can find someone to ask about Regalia. As she tried to find someone who might be local to Brightriver, Reverie found herself caught in between an argument between a Brightriver guard and a duo of girls, one was an otter and the other a rabbit.

"Now look here, hot-shot, what do you mean my boat's not legal? It's absolutely legal, I tell you! My pass and papers are legit and if you use your damn eyes, you can tell that they're not expired." The rabbit's face was flushed with anger, she turned to her otter friend in disbelief. "We just got the papers the other day didn't we? This guy here's hallucinating!"

"Ann, calm down, I'm sure there's an explanation for this." The otter patted Ann's shoulder, "I'm sorry sir, but we really did get this paper from a proper official here in Brightriver. We're allowed to dock for about a week at best."

"I'm sorry ladies, but the rules state that any unauthorised ships are to leave at once or there will be consequences." The Brightriver guard stood firm.

"Now see here!" Ann huffed and turned to Reverie who was quietly watching the scene, "You, please! Come and look at this paper, see the stamp and signature and everything? The date should still be valid right?" Ann shoved the paper in Reverie's face, who flinched at the sudden movement.

Reverie suddenly felt as if she was put in a position she didn't want to be in, but either way, she carefully read over the paper and noted that the signature came from a Mayor Daryl Pine of Brightriver. If Reverie remembered correctly, Mayor Daryl has been mayor of Brightriver for a good number of years. That was what she heard from Valour and Regalia, at least. However, Reverie could not exactly verify anything since she had only been in town since earlier that day.

"It looks, fine," Reverie mumbled, hoping that she could leave the commotion and be on her way soon. "I don't see why it's a problem to let them dock, sir." Reverie's voice was quiet, "The docks are quite big aren't they?"

"Exactly!" Ann agreed, "I can even bring you to the man who showed us where to get the right papers!"

Reverie stood by, watching the scene in case anyone was going to try and drag her into something else. As she watched, she felt with her instincts that there was something a bit off with the Brightriver guard. She stood thinking for a while, quietly observing the attire that he wore. There were plenty of Brightriver guards along the docks and each of them was wearing the exact same uniform, all except for the one Ann was arguing with. Upon further inspection, Reverie could see the imperfect seems and the subtle difference of uniform colours. It wasn't that subtle where it was impossible to notice, but it wasn't so obvious until you properly tried to look.

As Reverie was looking around, she caught the eye of the otter beside Ann. The otter made her way to Reverie and whispered in a very quiet voice.

"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to see what Reverie was looking at.

"I think there's something up with that guard." Reverie replied, equally as quiet.

"Really?" The otter inspected the guard, "What makes you think so?"

"Look at the uniforms the other guards are wearing, and then look at his."

As the two were whispering and looking at the Brightriver guard, they caught his attention and he immediately paused. When he did, the otter took this as a sign of guilt.

"Are you really part of the Brightriver guard?" The otter asked, catching the attention of Ann who started to look at the guard suspiciously.

"What are you talking about? That is ridiculous, I have no reason to pose as an official of this town." The guard looked offended.

"He does have no real reason to try and pose as someone like that," Reverie muttered, "But can you explain why your uniform looks different from everyone else's?"

"I've heard enough of this, the three of you are under arrest." The Brightriver guard then gave a smile, "Unless, you'd like to pay. Maybe I can let the three of you off."

"I guess this is the natural reaction to have." Reverie muttered, slowly realising that everything that she did so far was a bad idea, "But then again, trying to get us to pay you is just as ridiculous!" She remembered that there have been some ruffian disturbances around as of late, and remembered that that was why her tribe had gotten more stocks for self-defense from the merchants. Why that thought suddenly came to her was puzzling, but she had an inkling of an idea as to why her instincts were telling her that this and that were related.

The whole commotion started catching the attention of a few Brightriver guards. Which, to Reverie, looked like they were the actual official guards of the town. After seeing the official guards, the guard that was trying to arrest the girls grew pale. He suddenly broke into a run, but not before he shoved Ann off the dock.

"Ann!" The otter girl cried out before throwing her hands in front of her in a shoving motion, a glow of orange light emitted from her hands before a bright glowing slate of energy appeared below Ann. The slate of energy caught Ann just before she hit the waters. The otter girl ran to Ann in a mix of worry and panic, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ann replied, "I'm fine. Thanks Turk." Ann grabbed the hand of Turk and pulled herself back up onto the docks, "Can't believe that guy caught me off guard like that."

"Well, he certainly was an "off guard" if I do say so myself." Turk chuckled softly.

Meanwhile, Reverie had immediately chased after the fake guard, who tried to push through the official Brightriver guards that were walking towards them. However, the fake guard couldn't get far as Reverie yanked him by the collar, pulled him over her shoulder and almost slamming him into the ground. She knelt down, keeping a knee on his back and her hands on his head and collar.

"Really," Reverie huffed, "Of all the things you could've done in this situation." She muttered with a sigh.

"What's going on here?" Asked one of the official Brightriver guards, "Why was this guard running?"

"Why don't you take a look, sir?" Reverie pulled up the fake guard so that he could be inspected.

When the official guard took a look he grimaced, "Another one, huh?" He turned to the other guards with him, "Make sure you spread out and check if there are others like this one." He then turned to Reverie, "Thank you, we'll take it from here." The official guard grabbed a hold of the fake one and handcuffed him, "You are under arrest for the impersonation of an official guard and also for the harassment of some Brightriver visitors. You have the right to remain silent and anything you say can be used against you."

Before the official guard left, Reverie spoke up, "Excuse me," She called out, "When you said "another one," does this mean there have been other incidents like this?"

The official guard sighed, "Indeed. No one is sure why, but criminals have been acting up a lot more than usual here in this area. I heard there have been ruffians around the forest and plains near the Lake Heavedy, too."

"That's right," Reverie replied, "I wonder if the tremors are also part of this weird disturbance."

"Well, I'm not sure I can say," The guard smiled, "But please do be careful on your travels." He then bowed his head before leaving with the fake guard.

Reverie took a big, heavy breath and sighed. She was glad that commotion was over, but she still hadn't even asked anyone about her brother. She scratched her head a little before looking around, noticing that she had attracted the gazes of passersby. They were whispering to themselves and that made Reverie nervous. She didn't mean to cause a scene in front of a whole bunch of strangers in an environment she had never been in before. She felt afraid again, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Ann and Turk came up to her.

"Hey, thanks a lot for helping us." Ann grinned, "We wouldn't have known we were being swindled until you came along."

"Oh," Reverie returned the smile, "It was nothing, I'm glad that was over with. There've apparently been more incidents involving no-good people happening more often than I'd like to admit."

"Yeah, it's been the same in some of the other places I've been in too." Ann replied, "I'm Ann by the way." She held out her hand, "Anna Carro, greatest explorer, lover of ancient history, and the greatest seafaring rabbit to have ever existed!" Ann laughed as Reverie took her hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Turk Ottra," Turk chimed in, "I'm a seer in training, I'm not the best at it yet but I'm definitely learning."

"Oh," Reverie chuckled, "It's nice to meet you both. I'm Reverie Luna."

"So what brings you here Reverie?"

"Me? I'm just looking for someone." Reverie thought for a moment, "I don't suppose you happened to see a Koi fish pass through the docks have you?"

"I'm afraid not," Turk gave a small smile, "But! I'm sure we can help you!"

"We can?" Ann looked at Turk quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"You said you'd help me with my quest right, Ann?" Turk smiled, "This is part of my quest!"

"I'm definitely not sure what you mean, but I bet it's that seer instinct kicking in, huh?"

"Yep!"

Ann sighed, "Alright, well, there's no harm in helping someone out." She said, "And I guess we owe you one too."

Reverie wasn't sure what to think, but she was very grateful for the help that was offered. If she was to find Regalia, she sort of hoped she wouldn't have to go through the entire journey alone. Having Ann and Turk offer to help meant a lot to her, and in truth, it made her miss her family somewhat. Regardless, she was very much determined not to return home until she had found her brother. However, she felt bad having to drag those two into her problem when she barely did anything to help them.

"Are you sure? I mean this isn't some simple finding quest." Reverie gave a concerned look, "I'm pretty sure my brother is off poking around earthquakes."

"What? What gave him that big idea?" Ann raised a brow, but Turk was looked rather interested.

"I see, I see," Turk muttered to herself in a contemplative manner, "Then we definitely should help you, I just know we should. I saw something like this in a prophecy recently. Except the only thing aside from some vague and blurry imagery was the phrase, "everything starts with the Heavedy Tribe." I'm not sure what it means yet, but I think you have something to do with it. I can feel it through the Mother Pearl's flowing power."

"The Mother Pearl?" Reverie asked.

"Yes! After all, I am a seer in training for the Seaside Clan!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew Reverie!
> 
> It's been a while, I felt like I had to redesign her since it's been so long.
> 
> https://turquoistars.deviantart.com/art/Reverie-Luna-2018-741286355


	5. And So, The Real Journey Begins...After Some Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part 1: Reverie Luna (END)

It took some time before Reverie was able to confirm where Regalia had gone. With the combined efforts of Reverie herself and her newfound allies, Ann and Turk, she was not only able to track down Regalia's path but also able to gather the necessary supplies and procure transport at the same time. Ann was a very capable sailor and navigator, her knowledge of the surrounding areas put even Regalia's device to shame. Ann practically grew up on the ocean according to her. As for Turk, she was also very capable. Her abilities, ergokinesis was what she called it, was very useful as well as versatile. Not only that her surprising connection to the Mother Pearl made Reverie feel like this journey was the right thing to do.

The only thing that Reverie found puzzling was why Turk mentioned something about everything starting with the Heavedy Tribe. According to Ann, she was studying the ancient customs and history of the Seaside Clan when Turk approached her and asked for help. Ann mentioned that her help was needed specifically and that it was crucial for the two of them to go to Brightriver when they did. Ann didn't understand the nature of a seer, but she understood that there was something about the situation that felt rather important. When asking Turk, she had merely mentioned that there were threads of fate being weaved about, connecting certain people together. However, Turk was only a seer in training, and could not provide any specific answers.

Still, their help was truly appreciated, and Reverie knew that she was going to be relying on them even more as time went on. She temporarily wondered what would happen once she was done with her journey, but that was still a long ways off.

"Hey, Reverie can you help us out here with the boxes?" Ann asked, heaving a small box off the floor on her ship.

"Yes, of course!" Replied Reverie. She picked up some of the boxes and hoisted them onto her shoulder, bringing them down with ease to the ship's hold.

"I really can't get over how strong you are," Mused Ann, "And you were given this power?"

"More or less," Reverie smiled, "I don't understand it myself but it is convenient."

"The power of the Mother Pearl is certainly mysterious." Turk piped up, trying to fix an antenna up by the ship's steering wheel.

"Yeah, no kidding." Ann then promptly went back to work.

The three of them were busy preparing to set off from Brightriver, making sure that they had the right amount of supplies, and that the weather was going to be favourable. Ann's ship, the _Odyssey_ , was a large ship, but not as large where it was impossible to handle with only one person. It bore a very classic, antique design which was very remnant of the kind of ships seafarers had during times of piracy. Of course, since they were in a modern world, the _Odyssey_ was also fitted to accommodate modern amenities. From the look of things, the ship was made in such a way that it was also Ann's home at the same time. The captain's quarters served as Ann's main bedroom, whereas the officer's quarters served as her living space. Meanwhile, any spare rooms were in the crew's cabin. The only thing about the _Odyssey_ was that it kept some of the artillery in case there were any encounters on the ocean. Ann made sure to be very well prepared on that front.

"So, how long will it take to get from here to Castlebury?" Reverie helped Ann to finish cleaning up the main deck. She had helped to scrub along the stern of the ship, which was confusing as Reverie did not know what all the ship terminology meant, but Ann was very kind to help tell her what was what in regards to ship terms.

Ann paused with her hands on the ladder leading to the crow's nest, "Castlebury isn't exactly on the opposite side of the ocean," She started, "Although it's down south." She gestured to Reverie to head to the captain's quarters.

Reverie entered what was Ann's bedroom and was drawn to a large table near the back window, where Ann had a large map of Aquium laid out. Ann gestured for Reverie to take a look at the map, where she saw the main land masses that were on Aquium. Reverie stared in awe and wonder. It's not that she hadn't seen a world map before, Valour had often been something akin to a tutor for Reverie when they were a bit older than children. She knew a lot more about geography that she let on.

Where they were in relation to the map was around the northeastern side of the continent. The continent they were on was called Esqua, and it was the larger one of the two main continents in Aquium. Esqua was to the west of the continent of Faeren, and was mostly filled with large flatlands, plains, deserts, etc. The plains lands took up a majority of the northeast, residing in the country of Growren. Growren, being ruled by the royal family of Gloxinnae, has always been one of the more peaceful kingdoms. However, since the rise of ruffian groups appearing in Growren, there has been plenty of unrest; both Queen Gloxinnae and her people had become wary and listless as a result.

Reverie took a good look at Growren, she never thought much about her country especially since her life pertained to the Heavedy Tribe. Still, looking at her homeland gave Reverie a sense of pride. Since she and her companions were heading to Castlebury, Reverie felt as if she needed to be on her best behaviour to ensure that her tribe and country were well represented.

Castlebury lay across the Gulf of Esqua, right on the Rhinehelm peninsula. The country, also called Rhinehelm, was mostly a coastal lowland. It was also bordered by the Threamine Mountains and the Irrivin Ocean. From what Reverie could see, Castlebury, the capital, was placed on the very tip of the peninsula. Based on what she knew, Castlebury changed from the ruling of the late King Rhinehelm to the ruling of the formerly Prince Addian Stone Rhinehelm XXIII. Although, Reverie did not know what King Addian was like since he only just started his reign.

"If we leave by sunrise we could probably get to Castlebury's port in," Ann paused, "Are you sure your brother Regalia went all the way to Castlebury?" She asked, changing the subject.

Reverie nodded before examining the map, noting how small Brightriver was in comparison to the Gulf of Esqua. Suddenly, the gulf looked so much larger than Reverie initially thought.

"This is going to take a long time, isn't it?" Reverie gave a deep sigh, "How problematic." She muttered under her breath.

"Well," Ann gave Reverie a reassuring smile, "If it makes you feel better, Turk and I sailed all the way from Faeren. It took us over a year, even with the best sailing upgrades I could afford."

Reverie felt her stomach drop. It was going to be much longer before she could find her brother. Although, Reverie knew that by having Ann and Turk come along, Reverie was making them take on one of the biggest favours she could ask of them. She opened her mouth to apologise but before she could finish her sentence Ann interrupted her.

"It would take us about, uh, six months or so?" Ann said, "Turk and I don't mind it at all. We practically offered, besides," Ann grinned, "I'm down for doing something instead of just sailing around for whatever reason. Who knows what I can find from traveling beyond the seas and actually going inland."

Reverie kept her mouth shut, but she was still very hesitant. Six months was a very long time, and she didn't know what could happen during then. However, that also meant that Reverie was not that far behind Regalia in terms of the journey. Unless, of course, Regalia decided to take a different method of travel. Then again, the only other method Reverie could think of was that he could have decided to travel by land transport along the coast. Except for that kind of transport was a bit more difficult to procure on their side of Growren. Surely, Regalia didn't decide to walk there either. He could have thought to swim there himself too, there were plenty of oceanic towns and villages that Regalia could stop by along the journey. Reverie also knew there was no airport or airplane hanger for Regalia to have taken to the skies for his trip. Not all the way out in their part of Growren at least.

Reverie had to think things over for some time, so she excused herself from Ann and Turk's company and left the _Odyssey_. She walked along the bustling port for some time before she settled herself on some lonely patch of sand, just outside the port. She took a seat on the sand and watched the ships coming in and out of port. It was still early in the afternoon, about nearly three days since she first met Ann and Turk. Reverie was getting used to being away from the comforts of her tribe, but she could still feel the pang of homesickness even though she was not even that far away. She worried what it would be like when she was finally so far away from her tribe she wouldn't be able to recognise the land anymore. She was nervous with excitement as well, curiously thinking about what Castlebury would be like. Brightriver was so big and busy, she wondered if Castlebury would be bigger and busier.

She was afraid again, unsure of what will happen from that moment on. Reverie was fully aware of how her journeys may take a long time before she could ever return home, but she didn't realise just how long they would take. She took a deep breath to steady her thoughts, was it too much to ask for her to want Regalia to come home? She wondered to herself, thinking about what everyone else might be doing. Was Regalia safe? Did he miss home? How about Valour? How much was he worrying about herself and Regalia? Her parents? Her tribe? What about them?

Reverie knew her home was safe at least. Valour was very strong and so was her tribe. More often than not, her thoughts went towards Regalia and the uncertainty of both of their futures. Reverie understood how the world was always a dangerous place. There was no telling what may happen. Sometimes things happen gradually, but also they may happen so suddenly you can barely manage to blink before it's over. As much as possible, Reverie didn't want anything of the latter to happen to Regalia.

Reverie paused, she was worrying again. She was worrying over the same things for the same reasons. She wasn't particularly fond of worrying but there she was: worrying. Reverie sighed before standing up and doing a few stretches, she often found stretching made her feel better. Stretching made her feel especially better after doing a lot of heavy lifting. With one final stretch, while taking a very deep breath, Reverie exhaled and decided that she was going to try and stop moping around. How many times was she going to worry about something before she was satisfied?

"I can do this," Reverie muttered to herself, "No more fears, it's going to be fine." She huffed and smiled, she supposed things weren't so bad. She had Ann and Turk to help her out now, so she wasn't going to be by herself while out and about the continent. Besides, the two of them were more experienced than she was. Reverie could trust that they know how to help her.

"Reverie?" Turk had been looking for her after some time, and finally came across the patch of coast Reverie was at, "Are you coming? Ann is getting ready to have us go out for one last dinner here in Brightriver before we head out tomorrow," Turk took a good look at Reverie and smiled, "Are you alright?"

After giving things some thought, Reverie gave Turk one of her biggest smiles, "Yes!" She replied, "Just peachy!"

Turk giggled in response, "If you say so fruit tart," She said, "Where you do you want to go for some food? Ann's asking."

Reverie hummed, "I'm not sure, but it's still a bit early so maybe we can walk around the town a bit one last time? You know, before dinner and all those last minute preparations." She went to Turk's side and the two started heading back together.

The two of them headed back to meet up with Ann, where the three of them went out and about the town of Brightriver one last time. Reverie went to enjoy herself with them, as well as make sure any last minute preparations were done. They were going on a very long journey after all, and while they weren't entirely sure what will happen, Reverie figured things would work out somehow if they did their best.

As Reverie spent her final night in Brightriver before embarking with her newfound companions, she found herself resting comfortably in her bed on the _Odyssey_ , feeling the gentle rocking of the waves slowly lulling her to sleep. She knew she was never going to stop being afraid of the journey and being out of her comfort zone, but Reverie felt she could make it. She smiled to herself and silently sent her thoughts and prayers to her loved ones before wishing upon the Mother Pearl for a kind of strength similar to her physical prowess, and falling asleep.

It was natural to be afraid of the unknown, so many people are understandably fretful of what might come in their lives. However, despite all of the fears and failures and constant overthinking, there is much bravery to be seen when it comes to moving forward. All it takes to start is just taking one step forward.

 

_End of Part 1_

_Part 2: Bouts of Chaos- Coming Soon_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a little stuck especially on the geography (I had to doodle a small map as a reference for myself). I also wanted to kind of restructure how this story is written because I didn't want anything to really drag on. This part seemed like it would be good to cut short so that each part would be a bit more contained in terms of what I want to accomplish in terms of the storyline. It sounded easier for me to do.
> 
> I think the next part is where the real story of this act starts. I hope. It would be nice if that was the case. I mean I think it is anyway, there's no filler part I have in mind after Part 1. There's going to be a short epilogue/interlude between Acts 1 and 2 but that's further down the line.
> 
> Eventually I'll have a character design full body art for Ann and Turk, but for now, here's a wip of the three of them:
> 
> https://turquoistars.deviantart.com/art/Team-Quest-2018-flats-742515854
> 
> Also reminder, by the time this updates here on AO3 it will be the entirety of Part 2! If you want to follow along as I write you can go to RoboZephyr on FF.net :D
> 
> Thank you for reading Act 1 Part 1! :)


	6. Reverie Experiences the Sea for the First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part II: Bouts of Chaos

By the time Reverie had long left the port of Brightriver, she was practically ready to jump off the ship. It wasn't that she hated being at sea, she very much enjoyed it. Well, she enjoyed sailing immensely up until the point where a seasickness decided it was going to take hold of her. She had never sailed on the open seas before. The only sailing she had done was just playing in a small boat around Lake Heavedy back home. The rocking waves and lurching movements of the _Odyssey_ were enough to send Reverie into an overwhelming dizziness.

It took some time, and a lot of careful sailing before Reverie could stop being bedridden and actually go around the ship. She definitely wasn't used to such moving waters. Reverie moaned in despair from under the covers. She had mostly recovered but would feel much sicker whenever the ship moved more than it should. She wondered how Regalia was able to traverse such hellish waters.

Still, regardless of how Reverie was feeling, on her good days when she wasn't feeling as seasick, Reverie would always be taking in the sea breeze. She had no idea how much the ocean sparkled. Well,she knew that it sparkled after being in Brightriver for a time. However, being in the middle of the ocean instead of at a stationary port gave Reverie a new experience.

The _Odyssey_ would sometimes pass by watchtowers peeking out from the ocean: extending from a town beneath the surface of the water. Whenever they came to such watchtowers, Ann would make a point to stop at the designated areas by the towers, and trade with the seafolk below. Ann had told Reverie about how these made any seafaring trip easier, even if there was more land than ocean in Aquium.

"There are a lot of travelers in Aquium," Ann would say, "It just became tradition to have plenty of trading stops to make everyone's journeys easier. It brings good business for those small places where people travel through often, and it gives us travelers a chance to restock on supplies if needed."

Every time the ship stopped at a watchtower, Reverie would always ask if any of the seafolk had seen Regalia. To which, the seafolk would reply that they have and that Regalia had passed through some time ago. This meant that the girls were on the right track, which made Reverie feel incredibly relieved. She would still worry, though, but she made a note to constantly reassure herself that she needn't worry. If Regalia had gotten further than the three of them while he was on his own, then Reverie could trust his capabilities. Reverie was always proud of Regalia's skill so reassuring herself of that was rather easy.

Reverie couldn't help but feel that her journey so far had been going rather smoothly. Judging by how Regalia had been investigating tremors in the area, however, Reverie knew how suspicious it all seemed. There were days where Reverie felt her stomach drop, and it was not because of the seasickness. The further away from Brightriver they got, Reverie noticed something was definitely wrong.

It was only during that time, that Reverie understood why it took Regalia so long to investigate the disturbances, and why he had to go so far away from Growren too. The closer the ship got to Castlebury, Reverie could see that the watchtowers had been slowly falling apart. There was one settlement they stopped at, where the inside of the tower had been quite shaken up. Thankfully, the town itself was alright, save for a few broken windows and unstable architecture. The seafolk assured the girls that their town was a quick fix, and should take no time at all.

The next settlement they stopped at was worse off, with the tower slowly collapsing and some of the buildings had been broken down slightly. Then the next seafolk settlement was worse than the previous, and so on and so forth.

"Is this what my brother was investigating?" Reverie's voice was quiet.

The girls had just left another settlement after passing the seafolk some supplies, as they noticed the pattern, they took it upon themselves to help send supplies out to the needy seafolk settlements from the other seafolk settlements who barely suffered damage.

The three of them stood on the stern with Ann lazily steering the ship's wheel. Turk was busy cleaning Ann's old spyglass to see if she could use it to navigate the waves, and meanwhile, Reverie was using Regalia's scanner to see if she could spot any seafolk settlements underwater.

They had reached the point in their seafaring journey where they were able to see land on the distant horizon. After looking through a spyglass, they were able to confirm that the land seemed to be the port of Castlebury, the destination that they had been traveling towards for quite some time.

Still, there were seafolk settlements that they needed to visit and aid before they could get there.

"It seems like it," Ann sighed, "Can't believe it would be like that, though," She shook her head, "I hope that brother of yours was able to find something."

"Whatever's been going on," Turk started, "It's not normal," She was deep in thought, "It would be good if we could figure something out for ourselves too."

Ann nodded, "You have a point there, there's no reason for us to just ignore what's going on."

"I think it's rather crucial for us to find the answers too," Turk added, "I feel as if these disturbances, the disappearance of Reverie's brother, and us helping Reverie are all connected somehow. I don't know all the details yet, though."

"And there you go being all mysterious again, Turqua," Ann scratched her head, "I know you're just saying stuff like that because you're a seer and all, but it'd be nice if you can give it to us straight, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Turk frowned, "I don't understand it myself either, I'm just in-training remember?"

"Right, right," Ann paused, "Hey, can someone go check how much we have down in the hold? I'm not sure if we'll have enough for the other seafolk towns till we reach Castlebury."

Turk immediately nodded and hurried down to the brig, leaving Ann and Reverie at the stern. The two of them stood in silence for a while, Reverie wondering what to say to Ann. Thankfully for Reverie, Ann started the conversation.

"How are you holding up, Revi?" Ann asked, "Is the seasickness fading at all?"

"Only by a little bit," Reverie admitted, "I never knew the ocean could be this turbulent. Aside from the streams and rivers by my home, I've only ever really known calm waters. Not that I've never been to the beach. I've seen the ocean plenty of times, but swimming by the shore and being out in the middle of the vast sea are two different things."

"So you say," Ann laughed, "They really are different things, huh?"

"Yeah," Reverie chuckled softly, "For starters, there's the obvious difference in salinity. I've been surrounded by mostly freshwater, but the ocean is definitely much saltier. Regalia has to wear certain gear before going into the ocean because he's a koi fish."

"No kidding," Ann was surprised, "Would he be alright crossing the gulf on his own like this?"

"I think so," Reverie thought for a moment, "He's gone out into the ocean plenty of times for his research. Knowing him, he could've also hitched a ride along the way too. He can be quite resourceful when he needs to be," Reverie spoke fondly, "Most of the time he's just my dumb kid brother. I'm really proud of him, though."

Ann snorted, "Sounds like it," She stopped laughing, "Are you worried?"

"Huh?"

"About your brother, uh, Regalia was it?" Ann gave Reverie a concerned look, "I mean, you're going all this way just to find him."

"Of course I'm worried," Reverie's voice went quiet, "How could I not be worried? Every day, I've just been thinking about all of the things that could happen to him. Every day, I wonder if he's currently in danger, or if he needs my help." She paused, hesitant, "I know it doesn't have to be me who finds him. My elder brother, Valour, he's much better and a hundred times more capable of finding him compared to me. This is my first time going so far from home, but out of the responsibilities the two of us have, Valour is far more needed by our tribe than me."

"What do you mean?"

"I come from the Heavedy Tribe: the tribe that formed after the renegades split from the Seaside Clan after the banishment." Reverie explained, "I'm supposed to be a priestess very soon. That's an important role, sure, but Valour is the next head. Although, at this point in time, he _should_ be the new head of the tribe."

"You didn't want him to leave because of that?"

"Of course!" Reverie looked exasperated, "I didn't know what to do, but every fiber of my being just told me that I needed to do this: that I needed to be the one to find Regalia. So, I snuck out one morning and came all this way."

"So you left the Heavedy Tribe without anyone knowing?" Ann asked, "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

Reverie gave a sheepish laugh, "Absolutely not," She replied, "I'm going to be scolded so much when I come back. Regalia would be scolded too, I'd imagine."

"So, if I'm assuming correctly," Ann started, "The _both_ of you decided that it was a good idea to just suddenly leave without any word whatsoever on what you're planning on doing?"

Reverie was quiet for a while. She eventually replied with a hesitant smile, "...Yes?"

"Pearls above," Ann sighed, "I'm going to assume that the two of you are like two peas in a pod."

"Well, Regalia is much smarter," Reverie muttered, glancing at Regalia's scanner in her hands. She saw that the scanner had picked up on a seafolk settlement nearby, "Ann," She started, "Head, uh, two o'clock starboard?"

"Gotcha," Ann replied, turning the wheel, "A watchtower?"

"Dunno…" Reverie paused, she ran to the stairs leading down into the ship. It took some time because the ship swayed as it turned, giving Reverie some difficulty with her footing, "Turk, I need the spyglass!" She yelled, quickly trying to grab something to hold onto with one hand. The other hand was holding Regalia's device tightly to Reverie's person.

"Be right there!" Turk called out, quickly emerging from the hold some floors below and trying to make her way up the stairs onto the main deck, "Are we near a seafolk settlement?"

"Looks like it," Reverie replied and watched as Turk quickly scrambled up the main mast to the crow's nest. The _Odyssey_ had finished turning, allowing for both Reverie and Turk to maintain their footing whilst moving on the ship.

Turk managed to climb quickly due to her using her ergokinesis abilities, before she pulled out the spyglass from her belt, "Which direction?" She asked in a loud voice.

"Forward!" Reverie yelled, glancing at the device in her hands, "Just ahead!"

"Okay!"

Reverie tried to see if Regalia's device could tell her more about the area she was looking at, noticing that the borders of the seafolk settlement. She couldn't tell if the settlement was a town or a village or something else. The borders were very unusual and were significantly smaller than expected. The way the borders of the settlement looked was as if someone had fallen and spilt a box of chicken nuggets on the floor. The small, separated areas of the settlement were all split apart by very deep ocean.

Reverie wondered if undersea ravines existed, but based on the numbers on the scanner, the depth between the surface and seafloor around the settlement was about...infinite?

"Ann?" Reverie slowly walked back up to the stern with the device in hand, "Does this make any sense to you?"

Reverie showed Ann what she was looking at and Ann was surprised, "What in the world?" Ann's mouth was slightly agape, "That's not normal…"

"Ann! Revi!" Turk suddenly called out in a panic, "Something's wrong!" She half slid, half floated down the mast and back onto the deck. She ran up to the stern where Ann and Reverie were standing, "The watchtower," She huffed and panted, "The watchtower has been completely destroyed. From the looks of things, it wasn't the only thing that was torn apart."

Eventually, the _Odyssey_ reached the location of the seafolk settlement. However, what was there was enough to make all girls gasp in horror. The watchtower of the settlement was floating, bits and pieces of it at least. The entire structure looked as if something had come and ripped it to shreds, shards of weathered and damp wood were floating, inky stained cloth scraps surrounded the wood in the waters. There were also floating pieces of what looked like various types furniture, roof tiles, etc.

Reverie could have sworn, some of the ocean around them was stained with ink and blood. She couldn't confirm either of those things were in the ocean, though. All she knew was that the dark colour of the ocean was mixed with black and deep red. The smell in the air contained the fishy, ocean smell combined with the smell of seafood and that metallic scent blood had. She felt like she could vomit.

"What happened?" Ann left the wheel to examine the area, peering from the side of the ship's hull.

"I'll take a look," Cried Turk, jumping into the water.

The last thing Reverie saw of Turk, was her otter tail moving to push Turk through the surface of the ocean. After that, all was silent. The only thing remaining in the area was Reverie herself, Ann, the _Odyssey_ , and the ruined pieces of what seemed to be the remains of the seafolk settlement. Reverie suddenly felt that familiar feeling of her stomach dropping, or maybe that was just the seasickness. Although, based on the ill expression on Ann's face, Reverie understood that her stomach dropping was not a feeling of seasickness.

"Hey! Look what I found!" Turk emerged from the waters some time afterward, holding what seemed to be a shiny, bronze-coloured necklace with a bright pearl in the middle. The necklace had a semi-thick rim around the gem, covered in ornate carvings of an unknown alphabet from long ago. The pendant of the necklace was the only thing ornate about it, as the chain was merely a simple chain.

Turk swam back to the ship and climbed back on deck. She made her way back up to the stern, and held the amulet in front of the other two, "This didn't look like anything from the settlement. Based on the design and material, it's close to Seaside Clan, but not quite."

Ann, recovering from whatever emotion she felt prior, gingerly took the amulet from Turk and handed it to Reverie, "If it's close to the Seaside Clan in design, but not quite, it could be Heavedy. Right, Revi?"

Turk looked puzzled as Reverie carefully looked over the amulet. It was indeed of a Heavedy design. Reverie recognised it as she had a necklace like that herself, but she left it behind as she only ever wore it when she was performing priestess duties. The bronze-coloured material in the necklace meant to Reverie, that the necklace in her hands was made more as a good-luck charm than anything else.

Gold in the Heavedy Tribe signified a holy position, so usually, only priests and priestesses wore necklaces of that colour. The brightness of a golden-coloured necklace with pearls showed how close a person was to the Mother Pearl. The Heavedy Tribe never used colours like silver, white gold, or platinum; those colours were reserved for the Seaside Clan.

"This is definitely from the Heavedy Tribe," Reverie muttered, "As far as I know, very few of us have gone this far from the tribe for a necklace like this to end up here..." As various thoughts ran through Reverie's mind, she found herself realising one thing.

Regalia should be ahead of them meaning that he had passed the torn up settlement the girls were currently at. Although, to Reverie, there was no telling whether or not Regalia had actually managed to get to Castlebury. If Reverie allowed herself to fear, she would be instantly assuming that this seafolk settlement was where Regalia found trouble. The thought worse than what was currently going through Reverie's head was that Regalia never made it past this point.

She sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

Reverie spent so long away from home just to find Regalia. She hated the thought that she was too late. She stared at the necklace in her hands, trying her hardest to fight back any difficult emotion. Reverie felt like she was going to really be sick, much sicker than just a mere nauseating seasickness. Again, she felt like she could vomit, but this time she felt like she could choke on that vomit and then maybe cough so hard she could spit up blood.

It was a grotesque thought, she knew that. How else should she be going about this? She wanted to wholeheartedly believe Regalia was fine, that he was resourceful and smart. She wanted to believe that he could make it through anything without his big, dumb siblings watching him like a pair of security cameras.

Maybe the necklace belonged to someone else. Maybe the little, poorly carved, ornate alphabets didn't spell out "Regalia, be safe. Always." The phrase that Reverie personally decided to try engraving because she loved her baby brother so dearly, and was so proud of him because he could so many things that she couldn't do. Maybe the Regalia mentioned in the letters didn't refer to the baby brother that made Reverie's heart swell so happily to a point where she could nearly coddle him with love and sarcasm and teasing.

Reverie felt like she could cry, or die. Either option didn't matter to Reverie at that present moment.

"Did I miss anything while I went into the hold?" Turk asked quizzically, unaware of the inner turmoil Reverie was facing.

"Reverie is from the Heavedy Tribe." Ann replied in an "as-a-matter-of-fact" tone, equally unaware.

It wasn't that the two of them didn't care. Reverie just did all she could to fall into despair so quietly to herself that no one would notice.

"What? Really? That's-" Turk was about to comment but was cut off by the sudden violent rocking of the ship.

The ship shook and jolted as the waves aggressively hit the hull, the previous silence that was in the air became replaced with a loud, thunderous rumble. The ocean tossed the ship about, bits and pieces of the rubble from the settlement bumped themselves into the hull with several cracking and snapping sounds. As the seafloor quaked, a huge wave rose and slammed itself into the side of the ship.

The _Odyssey_ almost capsized.

Thankfully, Turk was quick to act. With a blast of power, she held her hands out and managed to keep the ship from tipping too far to one side, covering the entire ship with a gentle, orange light. However, the full force of the ship and Turk was enough to send the three of them reeling. Turk managed to extend power to keep herself steady, so she could hold the ship steady too.

Meanwhile, Ann was nearly flung over the side of the ship. Understanding the gravity of the situation, Ann quickly reached into a bag around her waist and pulled out a sturdy looking yo-yo. She tossed it and was luckily able to toss the yo-yo in such a way, it swung around a railing along the edge of the ship. That kept Ann from completely going overboard.

As for Reverie, the shock managed to break her from her worrying, miserable thoughts. She fell face first into the side of the ship's steering wheel, nearly dropping everything she had in her hands. Reverie collapsed and hastily held everything in one hand, grabbing the steering wheel with her free hand.

"Revi, you gotta get us out of here!" Cried Ann, struggling to climb her way back into the boat.

"Steer! I'll push us forward!" Turk cried out as well.

Reverie had to decide in that instant what she should do. With a hefty sigh, she jammed the necklace and Regalia's device into her pocket and gripped the steering wheel.

"Where to?!" Reverie yelled, furiously wiping away any tears that threatened to fall. She would have to deal with her grief later.

"Aport! Ten o'clock!" Ann scrambled towards the railing and flung herself back onto the main deck with a huff. She continued to hold on to the railing, debating if she should make her way back to the stern.

Reverie spun the steering wheel towards the left, with Turk's energy trying to push the ship to help it move.

Then, without any warning, a horrifying, piercing shriek filled the air causing the three girls to grip their ears in agony. The ship was thrown back into the fray of the waves from Turk's power being suddenly cut off, and Ann had to quickly run and grab Turk to stop her from being flung overboard.

Slowly, out of the water, a few long, squid-like tentacles then rose from the waves, creeping over the _Odyssey_ as if ready to snatch it from the sea. This was quite alarming as none of the girls have seen a phenomenon like that before. Only in fiction have any of them ever read about a fiend of the ocean with large tentacles, ready to attack ships and drag them down into the watery depths causing sailors to violently face an equally watery grave.

At the sight of the tentacles that barely showed the terror of the Kraken, Turk panicked and a burst of orange energy suddenly threw the _Odyssey_ away from the scene. This act caused Turk to collapse in a heap in Ann's arms as the power expended the last of Turk's energy, sending the _Odyssey_ flying across the waves and far away from the Kraken's grasp. The girls were flung once more, with Ann and Turk hitting the wall of the captain's quarters. Reverie was flung to where she hit the very back wall of the stern. Both Ann and Reverie heaved a heavy breath, having the wind knocked out of them from the full force of Turk's excitable power was a bit too much for the two of them, and they were left helpless as the ship continued to practically fly at high speeds.

The further the ship got from the Kraken, the more it started to slow down. Eventually, the _Odyssey_ flew into a beach outside the mostly ruined and shaken Castlebury. The ship made the most incredibly rocky landing it had ever done, beaching itself far inland and away from the shore. The bottom of the ship scraped along the sands at a quick pace, pushing its way through sand, rock, and other heavy debris before it slowly came to a stop after crashing into a boulder.

When the _Odyssey_ went to an abrupt halt, the girls lurched forward. Ann and Turk fell forward, the two of them laying on the floor and feeling rather distraught for different reasons. Turk was distraught from the Kraken and having Ann shield her from her own power. Ann was distraught because she realised that her ship was going to be in need of _plenty_ of repairs. The Kraken was upsetting too, she supposed.

Meanwhile, Reverie clutched her stomach and groaned, feeling the full force of the sudden changes in motion. She lay on the floor in a pathetic heap, her eyes shut tightly as her head spun wildly, and as she was gasping to recover the breath that was knocked out from her. There were too many emotions going on in her head. The Kraken was an incredibly terrifying surprise. Then there was her physical body which was feeling more than just seasickness. Then there was the feeling where she was beside herself with incredible worry for the fate her brother. There were other feelings too, but Reverie was unable to acknowledge them.

"Shell bites," Ann muttered weakly, "Reverie, are you alright?" She could see that Turk was fine, but Reverie was far from Ann's line of sight that she couldn't help but worry.

Reverie was only able to respond with a groan. She certainly had quite the experience for her first time at sea. Reverie thought quietly to herself that she hated the last part of the trip.

It was a justified thought.


	7. Lion Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part II: Bouts of Chaos

It took barely any time before the Royal Knights from the Kingdom of Rhinehelm arrived at the scene. The aggressive docking of the  _Odyssey_  managed to make enough noise to reach the ears of those working to repair the kingdom. A small team of disaster relief specialists came with the knights, assuming that the ship crashed as a result of the tremors that have been plaguing their ocean. It was common for ships to end up wrecked before they came to the Castlebury port, but this was the first time the knights and specialists have seen a ship completely beach itself. It certainly began to stir quite the fuss.

The hull of the  _Odyssey_ had been mangled and damaged to a point where the ship's contents were spilling from the broken holes and were scattered around the beach. The bow and front half of the ship had been crushed by the tree it slammed into. The tree was snapped in two, having already fallen into the bow by the time anyone had arrived. The rest of the ship looked fine enough, having only suffered minimal damage from the impact of the crash. However, a lot of what was on the ship had been tipped over. Although, most of that damage came from the violent rocking of the waves from the tremors prior to the Kraken encounter.

From her place upon the stern, Reverie could hear the cries and shouts of the knights below followed by the voices of the specialists. Reverie kept as still as possible, her body still feeling incredibly motion sick. She could hear them yelling about finding survivors and any corpses. She worried for Ann and Turk, but judging by how Ann called out to check if she was okay, Reverie could safely assume that they were fine. Reverie took deep breaths, doing whatever she could to not make any sudden movements. Inch by inch, she slowly crawled her way to the ship's steering wheel, hoping to check on Ann and Turk and show them that she was okay. She wanted to call out, but she found that she had barely a voice to call out with. Reverie had only just crawled away from her original position before she heard more voices.

"Up here!" One cried, "I have eyes on three!"

"Alive?" Cried another.

"Yes!"

Reverie assumed that the voices came from the group of people who came to the ship. She saw them clamour up the stairs and around her.

"Are you alright? Can you move?" One asked.

Reverie noticed they were wearing a medical uniform. Actually, she noticed that almost all of them were wearing medical uniforms.

Reverie groaned in response, still unable to find any words. She felt the medical specialists, she assumed they were such, attempt to move her and she groaned in protest. Her body felt too sick.

"What happened?" Reverie could hear the voice of someone below the stern, most likely talking to Ann and Turk. She heard Ann speaking in reply.

"Boat crash. It was pretty wild." Ann gave a weak response.

"Did you see the Kraken?"

"Well," Ann's voice shook slightly, "Why don't you take a guess there, bud?" She sounded a bit annoyed.

"How's your friend?" Ann's response was ignored as another voice asked.

"Shaken and tired, but otherwise fine."

As that conversation was going on, the specialists around Reverie were trying to figure out how to get her somewhere safe. They wanted to move her, but Reverie felt so sick that her last meal would show itself if she were to be moved. In the end, the specialists resorted to giving Reverie some kind of treatment for her nauseousness. Reverie lay still for a while, waiting as all her surroundings started to blur in sound and her vision began dimming. Her eyelids grew increasingly heavy and her body felt weak. It took some time before Reverie finally fell unconscious.

Ann was the first to recover, then Turk, and then Reverie. By the time Reverie had awoken in Castlebury's makeshift infirmary building, Ann and Turk had been out and about for a while, helping the Knights and disaster relief specialists try to fix up the kingdom. The  _Odyssey_  was also in the midst of repairs as well.

Reverie woke up to a slightly tattered, white ceiling in a room by herself. She was laying down in a somewhat soft cot and was covered in a thin sheet for a blanket. The glaring light from the morning sun shone through one of the windows and into Reverie's eyes, causing her to squint and instinctively cover her eyes with the blanket. Reverie was finally awake after a few days of drifting between sleep and consciousness, and she wasn't particularly happy about how bright the sun was.

She turned over to her side in an attempt to bury herself in the cot she was laying on. She spent the past few days either sleeping and having nightmares, or being awake and processing everything that has been happening since she left the Heavedy Tribe. Reverie peeked out from under the blanket towards the small bedside table in front of her. It was a simple, cheap looking table with little drawers. On top of the table were her bracelets, Regalia's device, and Regalia's bronze-coloured necklace.

Regalia.

Reverie gingerly held her hand out to grasp the necklace, finally noticing the little stain of blood on the chain. She hadn't noticed it before when she first saw the necklace. There was a lot of information that she was processing at the time. She gently ran a thumb across the shiny pearl pendant, finding herself calming down somewhat.

She had been trying to avoid dealing with the reality of everything that had happened by trying to sleep it off, but Reverie was beginning to understand that she was going to have to look at the facts eventually. With a hefty sigh, she slowly sat up in her cot, holding Regalia's necklace in her hand. She was surprised that she was able to hold it so carefully, she had always been wearing bracelets that held back her strength since she first discovered her power. Reverie supposed how she was feeling made it easier for her to hold the necklace tenderly. Regardless, Reverie clasped her bracelets back onto each wrist before examining the necklace.

Her thoughts reeled as she decided to go through the information that was proven true. She had to figure out if Regalia was okay or if he actually, well,  _died_. Of course, Reverie was not prepared for the latter, but she had to think things through.

Regalia left to investigate some disturbances by the ocean down south from the Heavedy Tribe. He had left about a week or so before Valour's Ceremony of Life. When Regalia did not return, Reverie took a few days before she left the tribe by herself to find him. After about two days, Reverie arrived in Brightriver where she met Ann and Turk and took a few more days before she left with them for Castlebury by ship. Regalia had long since left Brightriver for Castlebury, as the latter had been the most affected by the disturbances: tremors that have been happening around the Gulf of Esqua.

The journey from Brightriver to Castlebury took months, with Regalia still ahead of Reverie by over a week. The route taken was sure to be the same route that Regalia took, as it was the most straightforward route. Eventually, Reverie came to a seafolk settlement near Castlebury where a large tremor occurred, and a Kraken appeared. Based on the damage done to the seafolk settlement in that area, Reverie assumed that it was likely the Kraken had destroyed that settlement. With Regalia's necklace at the scene, Reverie knew that it was likely for Regalia to have been at the settlement during the time of the Kraken's attack.

That was all the information Reverie had.

Reverie had calmed down knowing that there was no real proof that Regalia didn't make it. If there was nothing to show to prove that Regalia had died, he might as well be alive somewhere. She clutched the necklace tightly to herself before clasping it around her neck and tucking the pendant under her shirt to hide it. She was still upset knowing that Regalia might be hurt somewhere, but if he was still alive, then she still had a chance in finding him.

She was still feeling fatigued despite all the sleeping, but Reverie found that she could not stand lying in the cot and being inside a room for much longer. Besides, she needed to find Ann and Turk to make sure they were alright. They had visited her several times while Reverie was recovering. Ann was rather cheerful during her visits, telling Reverie about all kinds of things and being positive with her resolve to help the people in Castlebury. Turk was also positive about helping out, but she also sounded incredibly apologetic during her visits. She would always apologise for making Reverie's nauseousness worse. There were nurses and such who visited her too, but only on occasion and just to check that Reverie was doing okay.

Reverie slowly dragged her limbs so that her legs hung over the side of the cot before she carefully stood up. It had been awhile since Reverie's feet touched solid ground that Reverie felt like the world was spinning at first. She had to stretch her body and move her legs before her body remembered that she was used to the solid floor beneath her feet. Plus, the stretches Reverie did make her body feel less fatigued. It was nice.

She quickly gathered her things before leaving her room in the infirmary building, finding herself in a bustling hallway of nurses and doctors ready to help victims and others affected by the recent tremors in Castlebury. During her days of rest, Reverie discovered that Castlebury itself was also affected by the tremor that occurred during her encounter with the Kraken and heard about how terrifying the Kraken was. Many who encounter the Kraken did not leave unscathed, so there were several medical specialists who thought it was a miracle her encounter with the Kraken ended up with the only real damage being towards the ship instead of those on board.

Reverie hastily maneuvered her way through more crowds of people before she was finally able to find the door leading towards the streets of Castlebury. It was not at all how Reverie imagined it. Then again, Castlebury had been recently experiencing tremors. She carefully placed her footing on the gravel pavement, which had been cleared for debris, and began to scan her surroundings.

Castlebury seemed to be a very green place. Reverie could see plenty of broken pots and soil along the ground, covered by wrecked plants and broken flowers. Leaves and vines and petals were scattered around, and what was left of certain structures were covered by dampened moss. Along the streets of Castlebury were piles and piles of rubble, a mess of stones, cement, various metals, and even wood had to be contained within their piles lest they slid and fell on an unsuspecting victim.

"It's a bit dilapidated right now, but I promise, Castlebury was much more lovely before the tremors." A voice was suddenly heard next to Reverie and she jumped, suddenly moving into a combat-ready stance.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry. Careful now." That same voice belonged to a stranger clad in a mossy green cloak with the hood covering his head. He had a deep, velvet red, button-down shirt and a pair of slightly faded black pants underneath the cloak with dark, earthy brown coloured shoes on his feet, "I saw you while I was making my rounds, so I just wanted to be sure you were alright."

"Making your rounds?" Reverie asked, "Thank you for the help, but..." She paused and relaxed her stance. The stranger laughed.

"My apologies," He smiled, "I am just your average everyday Lion Hood, you know?" He gave an expectant grin like he was waiting for something. When he didn't get the reaction he wanted he sighed, "You know, like Robin Hood but I'm a- nevermind."

"No, I fully understood." Reverie replied.

"Lion Hood" scratched the side of his mane, carefully so as to not knock his hood off of his head, "Bad joke, huh?" He asked with a sheepish smile, "Alright, you caught me. I've never really been the regal type if I'm going to be honest here. My father, though, he was certainly rather elegant. Had a whole aura of royalty like a stereotypical king. I guess that would make me a stereotypical rebel prince? Wait, I'm a king now."

As he was rambling about himself, it dawned on Reverie that she was face to face with none other than King Addian Stone Rhinehelm XXIII, the current ruler of Rhinehelm in which Castlebury was the capital of. She had never really met him before, but judging by the topic of his rambles, she could only assume he was the very king she had heard people talk about back in Brightriver.

She blinked in surprise and confusion, he really didn't seem like the royal king he was supposed to be. Then again, Reverie understood that she did not look at all like a priestess, nor did she look as if she could lift several tons heavier than any normal Aquis. Yet, there she was, a physically strong priestess.

"I didn't realise your identity, Your Majesty." Reverie was about to curtsey, but King Addian waved a hand.

"Please, for now, refer to me as," He paused, "Graham. I'm undercover for the sole purpose of, well, avoiding raising a fuss. You know how it is, people might scramble if they see the king walking around. As much as possible, I don't want to slow down the relief process."

Reverie nodded, "That's why you're using a fake name?"

"Indeed," Addian grinned, "So, from what I've heard you came crashing in with your friends, huh?" Addian gave an apologetic smile, "Usually, we welcome visitors, but right now we have a bit of a Kraken problem if you haven't noticed already."

Reverie smiled with a small laugh in response, "Shouldn't you be taking care of that then? You are well, you know."

"Listen," Addian had his hands up, "If I could sail out there with a suit of armour and a sword I would, but as you can see," He showed his arm and pushed up his sleeve, "I'm not exactly the muscled hunk people think I am."

Reverie tilted her head hesitantly. King Addian wasn't exactly muscular, but even she could tell that he had some lean muscles under his sandy fur. Her eyes glanced upward to peek at Addian's face, seeing that his hood hid a teasing expression. He had a wide smile and twinkling grey eyes. Reverie could tell he was joking about people calling him a "muscled hunk."

"Anyway," Addian continued, "Before I go about trying to fight the Kraken out in the ocean, I need to deal with a bit of a problem within Rhinehelm itself." He sighed.

For a brief moment, Reverie wondered if all important leaders were this open about whatever was on their mind. After all, the only leaders she had proper interactions with were her father and Valour. Then again, she remembered that she was in a different country and that she came from and spent all her life in a very small tribe. Reverie thought that it was safe to assume that everything was different from what she was taught in regards to the world.

"Um," Reverie started, "What's this problem you have?"

"Ah, you see-" Addian was cut off by Turk's voice calling out to her.

"Reverie! Oh, Revi you're up!" Turk dashed over and enveloped Reverie into a gentle hug, "I'm so sorry about what happened, I panicked! Suddenly before you know, we were speeding away like a skipping stone! I really am sorry," Her voice lowered, "I didn't foresee how sick you'd end up being."

"No worries, Turk," Muttered Reverie, "I don't blame you for it. The Kraken really took us by surprise."

Turk gave Reverie a small squeeze before turning to Addian, "Who's this?" She asked, "I hope I don't have to give you a lesson on talking with strangers."

"I assure you, I'm merely a simple soldier under the command of his majesty, King Addian Stone Rhinehelm XXIII." Addian bowed with a smile on his face.

"Are you sure? You look like an incredibly shifty, hooded figure to me." Suddenly Ann appeared, having followed Turk shortly after she ran to Reverie.

"I can see why," Addian laughed, "But, I have my reasons. I'm sure you'd like to enlighten your friends later, right? Uh…" He paused.

"Reverie Luna," Replied Reverie, realising that she had not properly introduced herself, "Reverie Luna of the Heavedy Tribe."

"You're from the Heavedy Tribe?!" Exclaimed Turk, who finally found out how Reverie would recognise a Heavedy design on a necklace.

"The Heavedy Tribe?" Addian looked as if he were in thought, "Interesting," He laughed once more, "Well, I bid you farewell for now," He said before leaning to whisper in Reverie's ear, "We'll talk later by the docks if you want." Addian then gave the girls a wave before walking off, cheerfully greeting a few of the people he passed as he did.

"Reverie, you really should know better," Ann scolded, "He looked so incredibly suspicious."

"There was something about him, though," Reverie's eyes fell upon the direction Addian went when he left, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but Graham isn't the sort you think he is."

"Graham?" Turk raised a brow, "I think we have a lot to talk about, Reverie."

"I think so too." Reverie replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done with chapter 6! I know what I said, I was gonna upload the story part by part. I changed my mind. I thought it was a bit too daunting to upload so many chapters at once, so maybe once in a while I'll upload a few at a time instead.
> 
> Anyway, with this, the first arc of ACT I begins. Or is this the second? Would Part 1 count as an arc? Maybe this section of Part 2 is a miniarc. Who knows? Still, we're done!
> 
> With King Addian being introduced as an important NPC, I wonder where the girls will be headed next? I know what will happen, of course. No spoilers, though.


	8. What Next?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward  
> Part II: Bouts of Chaos

"You're telling me," Ann had her hands clasped together, "The guy in the hood is none other than the  _king_  of this entire country?!"

Reverie slowly nodded.

"How do you know it's him and not some kind of imposter?" Turk looked rather serious.

Since Castlebury was still in the midst of repairs, the girls were only able to find a place to stay further inland. There was a large estate owned by one of the nobles, the Duke of Merlington, and since it was one of the Duke's empty homes, he transformed his estate into a temporary home for the people of the capital. It was a risky move, but the Duke had long since considered donating his home to set up a place for those in need of a room. Even though he was not the only one to do a deed like this, the Duke of Merlington was a favourite among the citizens, and also a good friend of the current King Addian.

The three were given a room near the entrance of the estate, as well as given some necessities to replace some of their things that were destroyed when they crashed. The room they were in was of a decent size, and there were three mattresses, pillows, blankets, etc. The disaster relief team made a point to ensure that the girls were well taken care of.

Turk insisted that the three of them push their mattresses together into a circle to emulate a slumber party situation. They were sitting on their beds, as it was still daytime, and talking about the recent events that have been occurring as of late.

"I think it's okay," Reverie spoke, "I couldn't sense any ill intent from him."

"You say that now," Turk frowned, "But then he'll get you alone while he can still charm you...then he'll pounce! Hyah!" Turk threw her hands up in a clawing motion, "That's when he'll get'cha!"

Ann nodded in agreement, "Why are you so keen on this guy anyway? Just because you think he's the king?"

"I guess?" Reverie paused, "He says something's happening in Rhinehelm. I was thinking maybe I could help."

"That's when he'll get'cha!" Turk repeated.

"Couldn't you use your seer powers for something like this, Turk?" Ann asked, trying not to push Reverie into a corner.

"I mean, I suppose I could try," Turk lowered her arms, "It would take some time, though."

"That's fine," Ann grinned, "Alright, Revi. Say this guy really is King Addian, then what? You still have your brother to find. Unless he's-"

"There's no real proof he's gone!" Reverie cut her off, "Right now we have no leads as to where he could be aside from him coming here. From what I can assume, the king likes to make rounds in Castlebury to make sure the repairs are going smoothly. If he knew we were new and that we crashed here, there's a chance I can get him to tell me if he saw Regalia or not." Reverie pressed her lips together. She actually had no plans. Everything she had said had been without any thought, and she knew something so improvised might not even work. She just didn't know what to do, but everything in her body was telling her to do  _something._  She figured anything would work.

Ann sighed, "Did he tell you to meet him anywhere?"

"By the docks later."

"I see."

Reverie and Ann were silent before Turk started to speak again.

"There's another thing, Reverie," Turk's voice was soft, "You're from the Heavedy Tribe?"

Reverie nodded.

"I traveled with you for months, and I had no idea," Turk shook her head, chuckling, "It's not like we're strangers you know? Not at this point."

Reverie pressed her lips together again, "I know," She smiled, "It's not like there was a chance for it to come up in conversation. Ann didn't know either."

Turk looked at Ann, who shrugged.

"She's right, I had no idea," Ann laughed, "Think about it, how much have we asked about each other?"

Turk sighed, "You're telling me we went on for  _ages_  without even trying to get to know each other?"

"We were just busy working with each other in the present moment to ask about the past." Reverie replied quietly.

Turk groaned and fell over on her bed, "Some seer!" She exclaimed.

"Aw, come on, Turqua, it's not so bad," Ann consoled, "How about we try talking about things more from now on? Instead of just constantly trying to plan our next course of action."

"Ann," Turk started, "You're a dolt."

Ann gave her a look in protest.

"Revi," Turk sat up, "You should've told me earlier. I mean our ancestors were pretty much from the Seaside Clan, right?"

"Well, the Heavedy Tribe has been mixe-"

"I don't care about that," Turk placed a hand on her shoulder, "Seaside or Heavedy it doesn't matter. I've always wanted to meet that side of the family." She smiled.

"What am I then?" Ann huffed, "Aside from just a dolt, apparently." She crossed her arms, but she had a smile on her face.

"I was kidding, you know that." Turk returned the smile.

"Yeah, well," Ann ran a hand through her hair, "What do we do now? Should we follow Reverie's idea and try to get this King Addian or "Graham" or whatever he wants to call himself to give us information?"

"I still need some time to see just how safe it is, but Ann, if you accompany Revi to the docks, I think it should be okay," Turk replied, "We don't exactly have anything to go on, and the  _Odyssey_  is still in need of repairs. We're kinda stuck until we can figure something out."

"We don't have much of a choice, huh?" Ann turned to Reverie, "Alright, when do we head out?"

"I'm not sure," Reverie tilted her head, "He never really specified what he meant by "later."

"Might as well go now," Ann stood up and started gathering some of her things, "We can get this over with as soon as possible."

"Fair enough," Reverie also stood up and got ready, leaving Turk sitting by herself on her bed, "Let's get going."

"Good luck!" Turk beamed, "I'll be here doing my "seer business" in the meantime. I'll come find you if I figure something out before you come back."

"Thanks," Ann was already at the door with Reverie, "We'll be sure to keep our guards up."

"Bye, Turk!" Reverie gave a small wave as she left. With that, Reverie followed Ann out the door. The two of them making their way through the estate and eventually into the streets of Castlebury, where they made their way to the docks.

It didn't take the two of them long before they were already spotted by King Addian. He was still in his hooded attire, waving to both Ann and Reverie.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were actually coming or not," He said with a grin, "I wouldn't blame you, though."

"I don't think you're dangerous." Reverie said quietly, earning a hesitant look from Ann.

"I'm not 100% sure you're who you say you are," Ann shot Addian an accusing look, "I'm here to make sure Reverie is safe."

"Fair, fair," Addian nodded, "Glad to know, really. It's not safe to be  _too_  trusting." He laughed when he saw Reverie give him a funny look of confusion.

"So," Reverie started, awkwardly tapping her foot on the wooden planks of the docks, "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Right," Addian clapped his hands together as if remembering, "There's something I need help with, come with me." He gestured to the two of them to follow.

Reverie glanced at Ann who sighed and held Reverie's arm, leading her to follow Addian to wherever he wanted them to go. Reverie noticed that Ann definitely did not like the situation, but realised Ann was only complying because of her dedication to helping Reverie.

Reverie couldn't help but think that Ann didn't need to go to such lengths. She could refuse to follow, and Reverie would've listened. Reverie wondered if it was her fault that the other two were just going along with her. She felt afraid again.

Addian led the two girls away from the docks, and into a nearby tavern by the name of the "Seafarer's Paradise." As the three walked in, Reverie saw a poster on one of the walls made to advertise the tavern. On the poster was a picture of a handsome Privateer. He was seafolk, a dolphin, with a shiny gold ring in his fin. Reverie thought he had a very nice smile.

"I always thought that poster was pretty funny," Addian commented, seeing how long Reverie took to observe the poster, "Seafarer's Paradise: Seafaring? That's Fair. We're always prepared." Addian chuckled while Reverie made a face. Ann had nothing to say.

"You like jokes like that?" Ann asked, a little unsure of Addian's sense of humour.

"Sure, who doesn't?" Addian shrugged, "I can't believe they got Reed Slash to model for that poster, though. He's been really busy as of late."

"Who's he?" Reverie asked out of curiosity.

"A...friend," Addian shook his head, "I'm derailing. Come on, let's get a seat 'round the back." He walked up to the bar after changing the subject.

Reverie and Ann hung around the entrance. Reverie watched as Addian was practically sliding over the bar counter, talking to the female bartender. The bartender laughed before gesturing to the stairs behind the counter.

"I really don't know where this is going," Reverie whispered to Ann.

"You wanna bail?" Ann leaned towards Reverie, keeping her eyes ahead and observing their immediate surroundings.

Seafarer's Paradise reminded Reverie of Forest Breeze back in Brightriver. It was a warm tavern, albeit made of stone. It was one of the few places that survived the tremors due to its structure. However, the walls were almost devoid of any fixtures. Reverie realised that it was most likely because of the tremors knocking everything down. Even sturdy buildings shook a little.

There were few people in Seafarer's Paradise. Aside from the staff, there were members of the disaster relief team, and also people who were looking to get a warm meal. From what Reverie could garner from the loud conversations, Seafarer's Paradise was giving anyone one in need free meals until Castlebury was at a more functional state. Reverie felt that it was safe to assume that the tavern was not such a bad place.

"I think we should be fine," Reverie's eyes darted around, "We could try running out if anything happens?"

"If anything happens I'll show him where to stick his bones." Ann snapped, still holding Reverie's arm in a firm grip.

Reverie wanted to pull back from fear.

Once Addian was done talking to the bartender, he returned to the two girls. He smiled when he saw how close they were together.

"You sure are good friends," He said with a laugh, earning strange looks from Reverie and Ann, "Upstairs," He pointed to the stairs behind the counter, "We'll talk there."

Reverie could sense how tense Ann was, and wondered if she should get them to bail for the sake of Ann's comfort. Regardless, Ann was the one who took the initiative to lead Reverie to follow Addian again, muttering under her breath a comment about "dense royalty."

Addian led the girls into a room with a table already set. He ushered them into the room before closing the door, making a point to not close it completely, but leave it slightly ajar.

"The staff here know who I am so, they wouldn't let anyone unauthorised come up," Addian pulled out a chair for both Ann and Reverie, "I'm not sure how long this will take. Have a seat in the meantime, though."

Reverie sat down, but Ann did not. She watched as Ann moved to stand close to Reverie, and then her eyes followed Addian as he shrugged and went to take a seat in front of Reverie.

"Um," Reverie had her hands on her lap and was fidgeting, "I'm assuming we can talk now?"

Addian blinked in surprise before chuckling, "Of course," He said, "We can talk now. You don't need to call me "Graham" here either," He looked at Reverie in a way that made her nervous, "I wanted to talk to you more. You seem interesting, and I think I can trust you."

"With all due respect,  _Your Majesty_ ," Ann interjected, "An assumption is no basis for trust."

"Oh," Addian nodded, "You're definitely right, but I think you can agree that I am not wrong in seeing that you're good people."

Ann was silent. Reverie wondered how Ann could refute him without sounding so aggressive and suspicious.

"Your Majesty," Reverie started, "Can we please just get to the point? I also just recovered so…" Reverie paused and Addian's expression was filled with horror.

"My goodness, you're right!" He exclaimed, "I'm sincerely sorry for my selfishness. Right, I'll tell you what's going on." Addian motioned for the girls to move closer.

Reverie leaned close, glancing back at Ann. Ann had also moved slightly closer, but Reverie could see that Ann was looking at Addian very keenly. She knew she was going to have to ask Ann later. Reverie understood that Ann had caught on to something.

"You know how Castlebury has been dealing with tremors and the Kraken recently, right?" Addian started, "Well, get this: this whole situation? It's  _global._ "

"I know that much," Ann replied, "What else is new?"

Reverie was alarmed. She did not know the disturbances weren't just around the Gulf of Esqua. Her thoughts flickered to whether Regalia discovered this information himself at an earlier date. It would explain why he would suddenly leave their home in Growren. A global disturbance? That was a terrifying thought, and yet, it was a reality, apparently. Reverie thought back to how carefree her journey had been so far, up until the encounter with the seafolk settlements and the Kraken. Her thoughts suddenly reeled to thinking about how everyone around the world must have felt with all of these things going on.

"Have they just been tremors? Are there more Krakens?" Reverie felt herself rush through questions that her voice shook. She saw how concerned Ann and Addian were that she shrank back into her seat. Her hands clenched over the tabletop in an attempt to try and calm herself down. Reverie felt her head spin.

Addian awkwardly leaned over to reach out a hand. His hand rested mostly on the table, with his fingertips lightly covering Reverie's knuckles, "Sorry," He muttered, "It's not as bad as I probably made it sound."

"These things have been occurring for a while now," Added Ann, her hand was on top of Reverie's head, "Thought you knew that. Not everywhere is as bad as what we've seen so far, though."

"Tremors are the most common occurrence," Addian turned to Ann, who had loosened up after seeing how upset Reverie had gotten, "The Kraken seems to be something unique to our area."

"I remember passing through an area that was beginning to be infested with skeletons covered in twine and stuff," Ann shivered, "It looked like necromancy and puppetry, but that's only in fiction. Dr. Leight's work is more technological and with, uh, less of the creepy zombified aesthetic."

"Living skeletons don't seem like they'd be Dr. Leight's work," Addian nodded, "I guess we can count something like that as a "disturbance," huh?" Addian gave a wide smile to Reverie, "I know it's sudden, but it's not like we're helpless."

"I'm guessing that's where we come in?" Ann raised a brow and Addian beamed.

"Knew you'd catch on," He replied, "Aside from tremors, and the Kraken in our gulf, Castlebury is also having a rise in bandit problems as well."

"Bandits?" Ann asked, "Isn't that, incredibly tame considering everything else?"

"Ruffians would be the tamest," Reverie corrected. Her voice was quiet to avoid from feeling too emotional, "They're easier to deal with than bandits."

"Indeed," Addian agreed, "Bear in mind, we live in a modern society."

"So, bandits with the same technological advancements that we have?" Ann sounded as if she wanted to laugh, "Like I'm going to turn around and suddenly a bandit is asking for the wifi password?"

"Or you could turn around and the bandit has a gun if you're going to go that way," Addian sounded rather serious, "Jokes aside, I've been hearing talk on how they're going to target Castlebury. I mean we're supposed to be in the  _capital_  of the Kingdom of Rhinehelm. How could bandits pass up an opportunity to strike during our most vulnerable time?"

"Okay," Ann paused, "That's really bad." She had long since stopped being suspicious of Addian. Reverie could tell that she was still cautious, but Reverie also knew that Ann understood priority.

"As King," Addian bit his lip at that, "I am most concerned for my people. I cannot simply leave them vulnerable while I send my Royal Knights to fight off the bandits."

"So, you want us,  _total strangers to the Crown_ , I might add, to go off and fight these bandits for you?" Ann sounded exasperated, "Do you even know if we can fight?"

"I know, and I'm sorry," Addian sighed, "I'm just at a loss. I couldn't assemble a group to help on my own, and I certainly can't go and face them by myself either. I'd like to."

"If you could run in with a sword and a suit of armour, you would." Reverie noted.

"Yeah," Addian smiled, "I would."

"Can we think about this?" Ann sounded incredibly unsure, "I mean you're also asking three people to do this. Four people, no,  _three_  people can't just barge in and overrun a group of bandits! This isn't a video game, and none of us are going to be willing to risk the life of foreign royalty."

"I can go with you guys, I can fight!" Addian protested, "I'm very skilled!"

"So? My grandpa's very skilled too, and he's buried in the sea somewhere," Ann snapped, "Look,  _Your Majesty_ , we can't just go off willy-nilly like a band of mercenaries. You gotta give us time to think. I can't go out there and risk putting Turk and Reverie in any more danger than what we've already gone through. We're travelers, not a merry group of charity fighters."

Reverie bit her lip as silence fell, both Ann and Addian were at a loss for words. Reverie didn't know what to do or what to say at that moment. She sat in her seat staring at her skirt, thinking and thinking about all sorts of things. It might have been an incredibly impulsive thought, but Reverie realised that within all that thinking, her body felt that she needed to go. Reverie wanted to go fight the wifi-seeking bandits. That last part was a joke on Reverie's part, but she knew her heart was in the right place. Maybe? She wasn't sure. It could've been that Reverie was just trying to lighten her mood.

"I can fight," Reverie spoke up, "I'm okay with going."

"What?" Ann was surprised, "Are you sure?"

"You don't have to come," Reverie assured Ann, "But I can fight the bandits. I feel like I should be the one to go. I know it doesn't have to be me, but I want to go."

"I'll be going with you," Addian added, but was silenced when Reverie politely held up her hand.

"It's too dangerous, Your Majesty," Reverie tilted her head in thought, "Though if you can prove to me that you can look after yourself, I think I can consider letting you come."

"Revi?!" Ann was nervous.

"Alright," Addian took a deep breath and exhaled, "How could I prove myself to you?"

Reverie paused, "Fight me."


	9. Before Dawn Comes, Know It Has To Be You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act I: One Step Forward
> 
> Part II: Bouts of Chaos

Reverie was beginning to think that maybe she didn't think things through well enough. Aside from telling the  _King_  to  _fight_  her, she was more surprised that King Addian was very compliant about it, and took no offense towards the fact that Reverie had just demanded that he fight her. She had only realised these things after Addian agreed he'd fight her to prove himself. Reverie was about to protest but Addian held up a hand to stop her.

"I know," He said, "It's fine, I get it. It's just a fight, right? Besides, I understand your concerns. How can I be a king if I can't even protect myself."

"Sure, but-" Reverie's words were lost.

"No "buts" about it," Addian flashed Reverie a reassuring smile, "I won't penalise you for wanting to know I'll be safe. We don't know each other enough for you to be able to size me up in combat."

"Do you just go with whatever anyone tells you?" Ann raised a brow, and Reverie could see the cogs turning in Ann's head in thought.

Addian paused and sheepishly tugged on his mane, "I've been told that."

"Kind of unsafe for a  _king_  to be like that though." Ann commented.

Addian gave Ann a curious look, "Yeah," He replied slowly, as if noticing Ann catching onto something, "I've been very careful about it."

Reverie glanced between the two of them, wondering what was going on. She saw that both Ann and Addian were in some sort of "stare-down," and she really wanted to know what was going on. Reverie was feeling impatient, not to mention slightly annoyed because she had no idea what Ann was thinking. She knew Ann had definitely picked up on something, but she knew Ann wouldn't tell her until much later.

"How about we go somewhere else and get this fight over with?" Addian broke the silence that had suddenly fallen in that moment, turning to face Reverie with a friendly smile, "Shall we?" He extended a hand to help her out of the chair.

Reverie took his hand, "Are you sure this is fine?" She asked, "I could watch you fight a bunch of training dummies instead? It doesn't have to be a fight with me."

"Ah, but you did ask me to fight  _you_. It doesn't have to be you, but I think it's best that it's you." Addian replied, releasing his hold on Reverie's hand when she stood up fully.

"Where do we go for this fight?" Ann made a face, "Surely we'd end up gaining a crowd if you fought in a populated area?"

"I know a place," Addian seemed hesitant around Ann, "It's a bit of a walk, though," Addian paused, "I'll tell you what, it's going to be late soon. How about you meet me at the gate of Merlington's Manor at dawn?"

Reverie turned to Ann, wanting to know what she thought.

"Dawn sounds good." Ann said, simply.

"Okay, dawn then!" Addian opened the door of the room and ushered the girls back down into the rest of Seafarer's Paradise, "I'll see you at dawn. Be sure to be fully well rested, because I will definitely prove something to you, Reverie."

Addian's smile was almost apologetic, but it only seemed that way. By the time Reverie tried to register that information, Addian's smile was back to how it usually looked. Reverie thought that maybe Addian was sorry in case he did something to her in the fight. She brushed the thought away. King Addian didn't seem like the type who would assume things so quickly. Probably. Reverie didn't know him that well since she had only met him earlier that day.

Reverie couldn't help but admit that he did seem really open for someone with the position of a king. Or maybe it was just that her image of kings was really different compared to her image of King Addian. Reverie wasn't sure.

As Ann and Reverie were making their way back to Merlington's Manor, Reverie was busy giving Ann stares that bore into Ann's back.

"Is there something you want to ask me, Revi?" Ann asked, hesitantly.

"What happened back there?" Reverie made sure she was keeping eye contact with Ann, "What did you figure out?"

Ann paused, "I'll get back to you on that," Ann replied, "I need to confirm things before I tell you."

Reverie stared at Ann for a while, "You won't tell me what you're thinking?"

"Aw, don't give me that," Ann placed her hand on Reverie's head, "I'll tell you when I'm sure it's safe. Turk and I are helping you. It kind of defeats the purpose if something happens to you."

"I'm not an infant," Reverie's expression was serious, "I can take care of myself. You're just as bad as Turk."

Ann frowned, "Sorry." She retracted her hand from Reverie's hair and the two walked back in silence.

"It's because I'm short, is it?" Reverie muttered.

"What?!" Ann exclaimed, "Not at all! You're shorter than Turk, sure, but it's definitely not because you're short."

Reverie sighed, "I know it's because I'm sheltered," She admitted, "I'm aware that I know so little, but I'm doing my best to do my part. If I can't carry myself I should've stayed home."

Ann took a deep breath and exhaled, "We know. We couldn't help you with all this if you weren't willing to have gone this far," Ann gave Reverie a gentle smile, "You made it, right? You haven't decided to turn back, yet."

Reverie shook her head, "Of course not," She said, "I need to look for my brother. Especially now."

Ann nodded in understanding.

By the time the two of them returned to their room in the Duke of Merlington's manor, Turk had already finished using her seer abilities. She had been sitting impatiently, fiddling with the cuffs of her gloves as she waited for both Ann and Reverie to return. When Ann and Reverie entered the room, Turk gave them a disappointed expression.

"What happened, Turk?" Reverie went to kneel beside Turk.

"I wasn't able to get a clear answer," Turk replied, "Not that I've ever gotten a clear answer, but at the very least I was able to find some shred of guidance. In this case, it doesn't matter what we choose the result will still be the same."

"Go with "Graham" or not, right?" Reverie asked.

"I think it's obvious to say that he's very suspicious," Ann added, moving to sit cross-legged on her bed, "Well, even if he turned out to be someone else, I think we should test him."

"I'm guessing you won't talk about that until you confirm everything?" Turk raised a brow, "Anyway, how are we going to "test" His Majesty's identity."

"Reverie is going to fight him, apparently."

"What?!" Turk lurched forward towards Ann, "What if he really  _is_  the king?"

"He agreed to do it..." Reverie muttered, still feeling regretful.

"Did you  _initiate_  it?" Turk asked, looking very much surprised.

"We were going to fight bandits!" Reverie protested, "He's the  _king_! If something happens to him, what will happen to Rhinehelm?"

"Bandits? Really?!" Turk threw her hands up, "Start from the beginning, for heaven's sake!"

Reverie watched as Ann reiterated what had happened to Turk. She watched as Turk's expression when from annoyance, then shock, and then Turk gave a defeated sigh.

"Are we really doing this?" Turk looked tired. When Reverie nodded, Turk sighed again, "Alright, but I'm definitely going with you guys. Ann, are you going?"

"Of course." Ann replied curtly.

"Then I guess that's settled," Turk was quiet, "I know you can handle yourself, Revi. I'm just still not sure about risking being enemies to the Rhinehelm crown, not to mention you could get hurt too."

"I know," Reverie bit her lip, "I'll do my best."

 

Before dawn rose on the next day, Reverie was already up and awake. She was the first to get ready, finding that she had difficulty sleeping. She had already prepared her things and was completely ready for the day an hour before sunrise. When she left the manor, the sky was still a darkened blue, but light enough to signify that the sun was beginning to come up. Reverie walked out onto the courtyard, noting how different the silence of Rhinhelm was to the plains lands.

The crickets were much louder back at the Heavedy Tribe, and all across her view Reverie could see a few of the lights from the other buildings in Castlebury. At least, lights from the buildings that were not completely destroyed. The only people Reverie could see were the members of the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Rhinehelm and the disaster relief team. The knights were on their patrol, as Reverie could recognise the walking patterns, which were almost reminiscent of how patrols worked in the Heavedy Tribe since Reverie's ruffian incident.

Since Reverie was born to the head of the entire tribe, she had always been a very important figure. It made sense to Reverie that the Heavedy Tribe would worry about something happening to her. In that same way, the Heavedy Tribe was definitely fretting over Regalia as well. She wondered how her family was coping without Regalia and herself. She knew Valour could handle it, though. Regardless, it did make her feel guilty too. Still, Reverie did what she thought had to be done, and did what she could to consider what was best for her tribe.

The Heavedy Tribe had a few other priestesses, but they only had one leader. It was high time for her father to pass on his title. Reverie could have gotten that title, but she decided long ago to step down from receiving that role. It wasn't that Reverie was incapable of becoming the head of the tribe. She was often told she had the potential to be a great leader herself. It was just that at some point in Reverie's life, there was something inside her telling her to do something else. It had felt as if her entire being was telling her to do something else, just like how her entire being was telling her to go find Regalia.

Reverie wondered if such feelings and instincts were a result of her priestess training. She wasn't sure. Reverie did a lot of things related to the Mother Pearl based on pure instinct. Her physical strength actually came to her after the ruffians got to her, and she instinctively fought back in self-defense. When it came to spirituality with the Mother Pearl, each person experiences the flow of power differently.

During the months she was at sea, Reverie noticed several things about Turk in regards to how Turk dealt with the power of the Mother Pearl. As a seer, Turk was always quietly meditating somewhere, just sitting still or looking out into the sea. Sometimes, Turk would be carrying on with her day in silence, but she always had pearls on her person. Turk often had physical contact with the pearls on her person. When she didn't have pearls on her person, she would be sitting somewhere with a pearl, the size of her pointer finger and thumb curled together in an "O" shape, in her hand.

Reverie spent a lot of time thinking about her role in the tribe, and the situation she was currently in. As she was in thought, she was also warming up in the courtyard in Merlington Manor. She found it easy to keep track of her movements if she wasn't thinking about it too much. She already had years of combat training anyway. While her power only appeared in recent years, the Heavedy Tribe had a requirement for everyone to have the ability to fend for themselves. Since the tribe's history included being scorned by the Seaside Clan long ago, and since the tribe was situated in the open plains lands, it was important that the tribe was able to protect themselves and their home.

Reverie considered herself to be a decent fighter, but it was her strength that she was afraid of. She was fighting the king of all people, but she also did not want to take Addian lightly. He had agreed to prove himself to her, and to go easy on him would be disrespectful. Still, she couldn't help but feel there should be a certain boundary before she accidentally pummels the king of a foreign nation.

"Is it almost dawn already?"

A voice broke Reverie from her thoughts. She stopped in her tracks and turned to see Addian walking up to her. It occurred to Reverie that for someone like Addian, he was certainly wandering around without any protection. Reverie couldn't decide if he was purposely being sneaky, or he was just incredibly reckless. She hoped it was the former.

"There's still time," Reverie noted, returning to her training, "I'm just awake early."

"I see," Addian tilted his head as he observed her movements, "Your fighting style is nothing I've seen before."

"It's Heavedy," Reverie replied a little curtly as she had to continue her movements, but she stopped momentarily, "There's a little bit of Seaside Clan in it too."

"I'm guessing from the history, huh?"

Reverie nodded. She went up to Addian and observed him. He wasn't wearing his hood this time, so Reverie was able to get a good look at his features. She can only observe a certain amount, though, as it was still fairly dark.

Reverie could see his grey eyes better, and she could see that his face was mostly framed by a shaggy, sandy mane. He looked nothing like the regal king he ought to be. Then again, Reverie assumed it was because he had to keep low when he was pretending to be "Graham." As Reverie looked closer, maybe she could see a bit of royal blood in his face. Maybe.

"Is there a reason why you're looking at me like that?" Addian gave a hesitant laugh.

"Sorry," Reverie muttered and stepped back, "I never saw you with your hood down before."

"Ah," Addian fiddled with his hood, "I thought it'd be fine since it's so early. No one's around to really notice."

"Is it really a problem for people to recognise you?" Reverie asked. She caught Addian by surprise.

"I guess so?" Addian replied, "I don't want to disrupt the people with my presence."

"I don't think it will," Reverie turned to look at the flowers in the manor's courtyard, "My eldest brother, Valour, he became the head of the Heavedy Tribe not so long ago. Yet, even before that, he was always out and about doing patrols, helping out people. My parents did the same, and Regalia too. Even I would go out and help around the tribe."

"That's a lot of work on top of any other duties you might have." Addian noted.

"It is, sure," Reverie smiled, "But that's just how it is to be a leader. We're not like you royals, you know?" Reverie placed her fingers firmly around the oval, pink pearl on her golden necklace, she pulled out the pearl to reveal a small engraved symbol. The symbol was a circle, but inside the circle was a wave pattern, and a single sword sticking out from the waves.

"That's the Heavedy Tribe isn't it?" Addian peered over to get a good look, "I remember seeing that in a book."

Reverie laughed, "Yeah, it would be there," She sighed and returned the pearl back in its place, "I was going to be the next head since I'm the only child with the same blood as my parents."

Addian blinked in surprise.

"However," Reverie continued to talk, "I think that's bull for only those of blood to inherit something like a position. Uh, no offense?"

"Hey, it's common for kings and queens to gain the throne without being a blueblood." Addian shrugged.

"Okay," Reverie paused, "It just made no sense to me that Valour, the eldest, and also the most capable had to be something else instead of what he could be. Does that make sense? I mean, he wanted to help our tribe too, and he felt that leading them would be best."

"What about you?"

"It doesn't have to be me," Reverie started, "To be here, looking for Regalia, and meeting Ann and Turk. It didn't have to be me, but looking at the options, I couldn't let Valour leave the position he worked hard to earn. Just because I stepped down doesn't mean he would be the one. He had to work for it. I think it's okay that I'm here. It feels like I should be here."

"Then wouldn't that mean it  _had_  to be you?"

"What do you mean?"

"If this feels like this is where you should be, wouldn't that mean it had to be you?" Addian paused as if searching for the right words, "Think about it: you said that it felt like you should be here. Wouldn't that mean that it  _had_  to be you? That it  _had_  to be you who leaves the tribe and look for your brother. It  _had_  to be you to meet Ann and Turk. Looking at the options, if it felt so strongly that you were the one to go, then wouldn't you be the only option?"

Reverie was quiet, she didn't know how to respond to that, "It didn't have to be me." She muttered.

"But it was you," Addian smiled, "It ended up being you."

But why? Reverie felt like she wanted to know why it would be her. Valour was more capable than she could ever be. Regalia was highly capable too, except  _he_  was the one she was looking for. Reverie just felt like she was the only other option, but if she was the  _only_  option. Why would that be so? She wondered if the Mother Pearl had something to do with her predicament, but even as a priestess-to-be, she wasn't sure about the will of what was simply a force of power.

"Ann, Turk, good morning!" Addian called out, "Good to see you, dawn is almost upon us."

Reverie turned to see a sleepy Ann and Turk making their way towards her. Ann was quick to be by Reverie's sie, and was giving suspicious looks towards Addian.

"Nothing happened, did it?" Ann asked slowly.

"Nothing at all!" Addian held his hands up, "Promise."

"Can we get this over with?" Turk rubbed her eyes, "I'm sleepy."

"You won't hold back, right?" Addian smiled at Reverie.

"If you are able, I won't have to." Reverie simply gave that response.

Addian laughed, "I think I can keep up." He said, watching as the sun began to creep over the horizon.

"Well," Reverie stretched her limbs and made circular motions with her shoulders to warm up, "Shall we get started?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, sorry this chapter took a while. I was initially going to do something for this chapter but it was beginning to drag a bit I thought I'd save what I wanted to do for the next chapter.
> 
> Let's just hope I know how to write good fight scenes. I used to RP fights so, let's hope that goes well.
> 
> I'm also working on a cover for ACT 1. I think it's alright so far. I'm almost finished, I just have the shading and effects and stuff then I'll be done.
> 
> Cover Wip:  
> https://turquoistars.deviantart.com/art/Pivotal-Tides-ACT-1-cover-flats-WIP-744775294?ga_submit_new=10%3A1526226131


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